


The Journey

by Hotchsmikaelson



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Aaron Hotchner Needs a Hug, Aaron Hotchner Whump, Brain Damage, Car Accidents, Comfort, F/M, Head Injury, Hospitals, Hurt Aaron Hotchner, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Out of Character Aaron Hotchner, Protective Emily Prentiss, Recovery, Sad Aaron Hotchner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:13:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28681647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotchsmikaelson/pseuds/Hotchsmikaelson
Summary: When Aaron is involved in a major car crash whilst on a case, he suffers a traumatic brain injury which changes him forever and leaves him dependant on his family and friends. With help from his wife, Emily, will he be able to recover and will he ever be the same? Or will he give up?(Do not read if you don’t like injury or injury recovery fics)
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 33
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hii this fic is a bit different to the others, as it’s more on injury and injury recovery and a different side to Aaron, so I understand if this isn’t what everyone likes, so if you don’t just don’t read it lol. But for those whose it is, enjoy :)

It had been 7 months since the accident had changed Aaron’s life, he was no longer the BAU’s section unit chief. He didn’t even know who he was anymore.  
During a case, Aaron had been involved in a serious car crash which had almost killed him, he had been told over and over how lucky he was to still be here. He wasn’t so sure if he’d call himself lucky to how he was now. 

He had suffered a traumatic brain injury which had left him in a coma for 3 weeks. It had affected his speech, motor skills and memory. He was emotional, he lashed out and had frequent mood swings that wasn’t like him at all, but he wasn’t able to control it. He was left dependent being able to do nothing for himself, which was the thing he hated the most. The thing he’d always valued the most was his independence and his pride, which were both stripped from him. He had spent months in rehab and was coming home today, to his wife Emily. Who hadn’t left his side once. 

The accident had left him with little to no motor skills, over the months in rehab he had managed to lift a few things but it was no use. He was told these things could take months, if not years. His speech was worse hit, when he first woke he hadn’t able to string together a few words. Even though he knew what to say, whenever it came out it sounded like a bunch of stutters, mumbles and jibberish. He wasn’t able to remember much short term, he forgot a lot of things and couldn’t process new information. He remembered his life, but anything he was told that day he would forget by the night. But as he was constantly reassured, it may get better in time. The ‘may’ always stood out to him, the thought of being like this forever scared him. 

He hated being like this, the doctors treat him like a child learning basic skills that he knew how to do, he just couldn’t do. The only person pulling him through this was Emily. She was quite literally his rock, he used to cringe at people saying that but he now understood the reason for it. 

It was his first official night home and it hadn’t gone great,he was irritated and in pain the whole night. If he wasn’t moaning in agony, he would have fits of emotional tears, which was never how he used to be. Since his injury, his emotions had been uncontrollable and he felt powerless, useless. He didn’t know why Emily would of wanted to stay. She had her job, her freedom, she didn’t have to be tied to him. But nonetheless she stayed through it all. She was used to his mood swings now and didn’t ever judge him, she never treat him like a child or like he was useless because she knew he wasn’t. 

Emily was getting Aaron dressed, he had tried to do it himself and managed to pull down his shirt from his head, and although it wasn’t much. It was progress.  
“What would you like for breakfast?” She asked softly, as she helped him into his wheelchair.  
“A- anything.” He said with a small shrug.  
When he had woken, he hadn’t able to chew solid foods and a few weeks ago he had just been taken off a feeding tube as it was huge struggle through recovery, he had found it difficult to swallow and chew properly. But he was getting better at it.  
Emily placed his chair at the table and poured him a glass of orange juice with a straw in so he could move his head forward and drink it himself. She placed the glass in front of him and went to make some oatmeal.  
When she had finished making it, the glass was nearly empty, “You were thirsty” she chuckled a little.  
He nodded, she stirred the oatmeal and looked at him. “Do you want to try?” She asked, handing him the spoon.  
He exhaled, shakily taking the spoon and putting a small amount of oatmeal on the spoon. He slowly, shakily put in his mouth, smudging a bit on his upper lip as he swallowed it. Emily handed him a napkin, which he slowly wiped his lip with.  
He looked at her, smiling a little, he’d never successfully done it before.  
He shakily took it again, as he attempted to feed himself once more. As it spilled onto his lap before he took it to his lips, he groaned in annoyance.  
She gently cleaned up the oatmeal with her napkin, “It’s okay, small steps remember?” She said, kissing his cheek and taking the spoon from him, feeding him the rest. 

After breakfast, Emily had started cleaning it all up whilst Aaron was watching tv. His physical therapist was coming round later, and each time she came, he dreaded it. It was just another reminder that he couldn’t do anything.  
“Jack’s round tonight,remember?” Emily said, coming next to him.  
He shook his head, he didn’t remember, since his accident Haley and Emily had arranged for him to see Jack every other Wednesday. It was emotional for them both, Jack didn’t recognise the man who was now his dad and Hotch’s emotions flew all over the place when Jack was around. Due to being sad he couldn’t be the father to his son that he once had been and anger that he couldn’t. 

“Emily..” Aaron sunk, swallowing.  
“What’s up?”  
“I need to go..” he said, going red. Despite her helping him before, it never got less embarrassing for him. At the start, he was in colostomy and urostomy bags, but when he entered rehab he had been upgraded to some sort of diaper. Which was just as embarrassing, if not more but he sometimes couldn’t tell when he had to go and it avoided accidents this way. He hadn’t had one in a while, but at the start of rehab they were common and it ended in Aaron getting upset. 

She nodded, and wheeled him to the bathroom, she knew how embarrassed he got by this. She helped him onto the toilet and let him do his business, helping him back up into his chair. “Could you feel that one more?” She asked.  
“Yeah, I think it’s getting better..hopefully I won’t need, these, soon” he said, referring to the diapers.  
“Yeah. That would be good.” She said kissing his cheek.  
“How’s the team?” He asked.  
“They’re good. They miss us”  
“When are you- going back?” He asked, swallowing. The thought of him having a caretaker didn’t sit right with him, he should be there with them.  
“Not for another few weeks, don’t worry.”  
He nodded softly, he didn’t say much these days, to save himself the embarrassment of stuttering and because he never knew what to say. 

——  
The evening soon came, Aaron’s physical therapist had really pushed him today. Maybe too far because it ended in him in a panic and quiet for the rest of the day. But his therapist said he was making progress, and she said it wouldn’t be long till he could replace his wheelchair with a Walker. Aaron didn’t believe her. The visit had tired Aaron out for the rest of the day and he had spent the rest of the day asleep.  
Aaron awoke to the sound of Jack running in, “Daddy!” He said, jumping onto his lap which caused Jack to wince.  
“Hey..buddy” Aaron said tiredly, after all he’d just woke.  
“Emmy said we may be able to get ice cream, can we?!”  
Aaron looked at Jack and chuckled softly, “Yeah..if that’s what you want.” 

—-  
Emily was wheeling Aaron’s chair as Jack ran ahead in front, although he liked seeing Jack happy, he hated the stares he’d get from people. The look of sorrow, people feeling sorry for him and wondering how he ended up there. Sometimes he’d have nightmares of the crash, he thought about the crash a lot, maybe if he did things differently. But Emily had told him there was no point in reflecting on the past, he has to focus on getting better.  
“Do you want one?” Emily asked, as she got herself and Jack an ice cream.  
Aaron shook his head, it saved him the embarrassment of having to be fed in public. In Rehab, the nurses had took them out for lunch and it had ended in Aaron refusing his meal. He hated people seeing him vulnerable, and that was about as vulnerable as it got in front of people.

When they returned home, Emily had started cooking dinner whilst Jack read to Aaron. Although he loved the fact his son could read, which was why he would read to him to help him improve, he felt like he was failing at the fact that he couldn’t read it to Jack. The doctors told him his linguistic skills would take time. He was seeing a speech and reading doctor who specialised in TBI’s twice a week, he had improved on his hand writing but reading was going to take a little longer. 

“Dinners ready!” Emily shouted, as she went to wheel Aaron in.  
Aaron sighed, picking up the fork shakily, he wanted to prove to his son he wasn’t so weak. He managed a few mouthfuls by himself, spilling some down his chin which made Jack laugh, but embarrassed Aaron.  
After the 5th forkful, which was better than anytime before, he gave up frustrated.  
“It’s okay, Aaron.” She said, wiping his mouth.  
“No it’s not.” He said, tearfully as tears threatened to fall.  
“Don’t get upset, daddy” Jack said, looking at him.  
“I’m not- I just- I’m okay..Jack” he choked, holding in his tears. He wanted to control his emotions.  
“You’ll do better tomorrow, you did better than this morning.” Emily said, placing a hand on his cheek and helping him eat the rest. 

Soon after dinner, as much as Aaron tried to resist, he ended up falling asleep whilst they were all watching a movie.  
Emily heard a knock on the door, “That’ll be your mom.” She said softly to Jack, “Kiss your daddy goodbye, don’t wake him he’s sleepy”  
Jack nodded, softly kissing Aaron on the cheek and running to the door.  
“Hey” Emily said quietly, smiling at Haley.  
“Did you have a nice time Jack?” Haley asked, smiling at Emily.  
“Yeah, daddy’s asleep now.” Jack said, playing with his hands.  
“How is Aaron?” Haley asked, sighing.  
“He’s...doing better. There’s good days and bad. It’s just- hard.” Emily shrugged.  
Haley nodded, “I know, I can Imagine..especially for a man like Aaron.”  
Emily nodded, she knew Aaron valued his independence and he was the typical alpha male man as Reid would say.  
“We just have to..take it each day.” Emily said with a small sigh. She was going to be there for him every step of the way, however long that took.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is short, but I have ideas for the chapters to come. I just wanted to get the team together, and Aaron’s reaction to them seeing him :)

It had been a long week, Aaron had various different therapist sessions all weeks and they had drained him. If he wasn’t asleep, he was in pain, so it was best he slept. Although Aaron had thought he wasn’t improving, the speech therapist had told him his reading was coming on and his physical therapist had high hopes.   
It was just Aaron that didn’t believe it. 

Emily had felt like Aaron had given up, he wasn’t trying and didn’t seem like he had the motivation. “Aaron..what’s going on?” She asked, as she helped him get dressed, which he hadn’t tried to do himself for once. Usually, he was stubborn and would try to do it himself, but today he didn’t even moan once about her doing it.  
He shrugged, “Nothing.” He said, staring down at the floor.   
“I know you, Aaron. So tell me what’s up,” she said, sitting down next to him and placing a hand to his cheek.   
“I just..I feel useless, like..Im going to be this burden forever.”  
“Burden? What are you talking about-“  
“What if I never get better, Emily?”   
“You can’t think like that! Your therapists have all said your improving!”  
“Yeah, but what if I don’t..I can’t expect you to stay.”   
Emily widened her eyes, her eyes tearing up, “What? You think I’d leave you?”   
He swallowed, “You should, what kind of life would it be? You deserve better.”   
Emily shook her head, “No. I don’t want anyone else..your still the man I fell in love with and that’s the way it’s always going to be. I love you, do you hear me?” She said, her voice breaking. It broke her heart to hear him say that, how could he ever think she would leave him.  
He nodded, his breath shaky, “Yeah, I’m sorry...I love you too, I know I don’t always show it but-“   
He was stopped by a gentle kiss being placed on his lips, he kissed back softly. “Please don’t ever think like that again..” she said as she pulled away, placing her hand on his.   
He nodded, smiling a little, “I promise I’m going to try. For you, and for Jack”   
She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder.  
It was an emotional conversation for them both, he’d not opened up to her for a while and she was glad he had.

—-  
Aaron had put all his effort into his physical therapist appointment that day, and it paid off, when he was able to hold a plastic cup in his hand. It fell after a deee seconds, but he gripped it tight which was a first, usually he held it and it had dropped straight away.  
The evening soon came and there was a knock on the door, Emily looked at Aaron and got up from the couch. He was sound asleep, and they weren’t expecting guests.   
As Emily opened the door, she was surprised to see the team standing at the door, “Oh, hey!” Emily smiled, trying to whisper.  
They had brought takeout, “Hey! We thought we’d come and check on you both, it’s been a while!” Garcia exclaimed.  
Emily smiled a little, she wasn’t sure how Aaron would react to this, it was overwhelming enough for him to see Jack, never mind all of the team.   
Emily nodded, letting them all in, “Uh- just come in and go into the dining room, I’ll wake Aaron. He’s asleep”   
“Oh, if it’s a problem, we can leave” Reid said softly.  
She shook her head, “No, It’s not. It’s a kind gesture, thanks guys” she smiled, she had missed her friends and was happy they were all here. She just wasn’t sure if Aaron would agree.

They all went quietly into the dining room and Emily went to the living room, quietly moving next too Aaron. “Aaron, baby..” she said, gently tapping him.  
He moaned, whining a little, “No...”  
“Aaron. You have to wake up, we have guests” she said softly.  
His eyes fluttered open, and he yawned tiredly, “What?” He asked, raising a brow.   
“The team have come..and they wanted to see us.”  
“Where are they?” Aaron asked, instantly becoming self conscious.  
Emily noticed he’d become more anxious, “They’re in the dining room. They don’t have to stay long..they’re just worried, and miss us. Are you okay with this?” She asked.  
He swallowed, nodding reluctantly, he really wasn’t but he didn’t want to let the team down. He was nervous, it was the first time they’d seem him when he wasn’t in a hospital bed. He didn’t want to seem so weak and useless in front of them. 

As Emily helped him into the wheelchair, she wheeled him in and the team all smiled. “Hotch, hey!” Garcia said, a little louder than she probably should have.  
The whole team took turns hugging him, which was much to Aaron’s horror but he pretended it was fine.   
As they were all talking, Aaron was starting to get more panicky and nervous, he didn’t like this at all. Tears threatened to fall, not now, please not now he thought. He hated how out of control he was of his emotions, and this was embarrassing if he started crying in front of his team.   
Reid turned to see Hotch, “Hotch, you okay?” He asked. Wrong move.   
Aaron felt tears starting to feel and an uncontrollable sob escaped his mouth, “I-“ he couldn’t get his words out, this had happened before. The difference was it was just Emily last time and that was bad enough, not five more people staring at him. He felt like a child, so small in the chair, crying as everyone stood watching.  
Emily rushed over, “Aaron. It’s okay, they’re your friends” she said, risking his hand. His voice was shaky, “I- I can’t do this..” he said, “I’m tired.”   
Emily nodded, “We should go” Garcia said.  
Aaron shook his head, “No- you all stay. I- I’ll go to bed.” He swallowed, getting his breath back. 

Emily had taken Aaron to the bedroom, “What happened in there?” She asked softly.  
He shrugged, “I didn’t want them seeing me like this..I feel so weak compared to them.” He sighed, as Emily helped him into bed.   
“Your not, Aaron. Your the strongest person I know.” She said, placing a soft kiss on his lips.   
He nodded reluctantly, “I love you”   
“I love you too”  
“Im sorry.. for ruining it.”   
She shook her head, “You haven’t. Just get some sleep, okay?” She said, kissing him once more.  
Aaron closed his eyes, unable to keep them awake for any longer.

Emily walked back into the dining room, “I’m sorry about that..” she sighed.   
“Is he okay?” Rossi asked.   
She nodded, “It’s just- overwhelming for him. It’s bad enough with Jack, he hates Jack seeing him like this..but all of you, he just- he doesn’t want to be seen as helpless, and that’s how he feels” she said, sipping her wine.   
“Nothing has changed our view on him” Derek said, “He’s still the man we know.”  
Emily nodded, putting her hands on her face, “I know- I just wish-“ she said, her voice breaking.   
“Hey, Em..it’s okay” Garcia said, running to hug her.   
“I just wish he’d see that..he’s too hard on himself. I just wish-“ she stopped herself, as she wiped her eyes. She had to keep her emotions in place, for Aaron.   
“I know, we all wish it.” Derek said, with a sigh. They all wished they could redo that day, never have took that case and they would have never been in this position now. They all knew how hard it was on them both, especially Aaron.   
“Thank you for coming..I really needed to see you all” Emily smiled  
“That’s what family’s for.” Reid said, with an awkward smile.   
“And when Aaron’s ready to see us...we’ll be here” Rossi added. 

The rest of the night, Emily shared a few glasses of wine with her team, but she made sure not to get tipsy or drunk in case Aaron needed her.   
They were all leaving and all saying goodbye, “When are you back?” JJ asked.  
Emily shrugged, “In a couple weeks..but I don’t think Aaron’s keen on the idea of a random stranger coming to take care of him, especially if I’m gone on cases. So, I don’t know yet.”   
JJ hugged her, “Well, I’ll see you soon.”   
“Thank you all for coming.” Emily smiled, and watched them leave.

She missed that. Being with the team, she knew Aaron did too. She just wished things could be different.


	3. The Bad Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bad day for Aaron, but in upcoming chapters I’m going to start including some of the team more :)

Aaron had been making good progress, Haley had started letting him see Jack twice a week now, which made him happier. He was starting to look optimistic, maybe he had hope after all.  
He wasn’t being as stubborn towards Emily helping him, even though he still hated it.  
But like he had been warned, they’d be bad days and good days. Today was a bad day. A really bad day. 

Aaron awoke with this head pounding and a terrible pain in his neck, he looked around and saw Emily had already got up. He sighed, weakly pushing himself up slightly before giving up and falling back down. “Em..” he choked out, he couldn’t say the rest of it. He was scared his speech had deteriorated.  
He couldn’t go back to that. 

In hospital, it had taken them weeks to understand anything he said, he knew what he had wanted to say but it never came out. The doctors called is aphasia. When he finally could form words, it would come out wrong or in stutters. He still stuttered now, but not quite as bad and he was able to form words. 

“Em.” He repeated, stuttering as he did. He was quiet, he didn’t have enough energy to shout.  
Emily was walking upstairs anyway to wake him for his meds as she heard a small plead of her name. She hurried in, “Hey..what’s up?” Emily said, sitting next to him on the bed.  
He looked at her, struggling to form the words without stuttering, “I- it..it hu-hurts.” He formed, placing a hand on his head and wincing.  
She nodded, “Have your meds. That’ll help” she said, placing a cup in front of him with a straw which she held. Once he took them, he leaned back and closed his eyes in pain. “Would you like to rest?” She asked.  
He nodded, and Emily placed a kiss on his knuckle before walking out. 

Two hours later, he had awoke and groaned as he opened his eyes. He saw Emily in the distance, getting changed. God, he missed touching her, she was so sexy.  
Emily put her shirt on and turned around to see Aaron was awake, “Hey, how you feeling?” She asked.  
Aaron groaned, “Be- better.” He said, “Hurts..st-still but..bet- better” he added, getting frustrated by the stutter. Emily nodded, being patient as he spoke. She knew how annoyed he got when he couldn’t formulate the words correct, or his stutter came. 

“Come on, let’s get you dressed.” She said softly, he yawned and nodded slightly.  
Once she had dressed him, they made their way downstairs, she pulled his chair up to the table and went to make breakfast.  
“How does pancakes sound? I made some for myself earlier..as you know their my favourite and saved some in case you wanted them” she asked, looking at him.  
He nodded, he wasn’t in much of a mood to talk, it would only get him more agitated.  
Emily warmed the pancakes up, and sat down next to him at the table.  
“Here, you go.” She said, handing him a plastic fork. He was able to grip hold of the plastic better, and managed it better.  
He slowly took it, shaking as he ate a few forkfuls. He groaned frustratedly as he split the syrup onto his chin, and dropped a bit of the pancake on his lap.  
“It’s okay, you’ve almost had it all.” She said, wiping his chin with a napkin and cleaning the piece of pancake from his lap.  
“You can do it.” She said, softly but not condescending in any way.  
He nodded softly, as he tried again, dropping it once more. “Don- don’t want..an- any- more.” He said, in an annoyed tone.  
She nodded, “Okay..but that was the best you’ve done, your getting better, Aaron.” She said, before taking the plate away. 

It irritated him so much that he couldn’t even feed himself without spilling it, making a mess or asking for help. It was embarrassing to say the least, and he knew Emily didn’t mind but he did. 

Once the kitchen was cleaned, Emily went to join Aaron who was in the living room watching TV, since there wasn’t much else he could do these days.  
“Aaron, we have to talk about something..” she said, coming next to him.  
“Yeah?” He asked, raising a brow.  
“The bureau want me to come back.” She said with a sigh, “In the next 3 weeks.” She added.  
Aaron exhaled, he knew what that meant, it meant that he would have a complete stranger taking care of him when she could be gone for days on end. He hated the thought of that. He valued his pride, and the only person he’d ever let himself be vulnerable around was Emily. She was the only who he’d let take full care of him, even in rehab. But now, he was going to have to expose himself to a complete stranger.  
“The rehab centre recommended some people..”  
Aaron scoffed, “Wh-what..so- they can all..treat me- like- like a child.” He stuttered, he despised being at the rehab centre. The nurses eeee condensing, and they’d speak about him like he wasn’t there.  
“We could try somewhere private..I’ll start researching people that are recommended.”  
He sighed, he was angry and annoyed which often led to emotional outbursts. His eyes were welling up and he could see it coming, compose yourself Hotchner.  
“Aaron..” she said sweetly, seeing he was starting to become distressed.  
He shook his head, refusing to listen to her as she started hyperventilating, breathing heavily as tears fell down his face. Then, an uncontrollable sob escaped and that set him off. God, he didn’t want to do this. Not in front of her. As much as he tried to stop it, it worsened the situation.

“Hey. It’s okay.” She said, pulling him into her arms, he cried softly into her chest.  
“I know your not keen on the idea..and I wish I didn’t have to go. But, if I don’t they’re not going to be generous about me taking a longer absence.” She said,stroking the back of his hair.  
He nodded, “I- know..it’s just- just..embarrassing, I don’t- want..people seeing me. Like- like this.” He said, his voice shaky as he started to calm down. She soothed him, “I know, and I’m sorry for that. But I promise, we’ll find someone who you like and trust, it’s their job Aaron. I’m sure they’ve seen people who have it worse, people who aren’t getting better.” She said, as she pulled away and kissed him softly.  
He nodded, as he kissed back, “I know- I- I know..I’m lucky.” He said, “It could-be a lot- a worse than it is.”  
She smiled a little, “yeah, I still have you. That’s all that matters.” 

That afternoon, they took a walk to get some fresh air and Emily insisted that it would help him improve his mood. As usual, she was right. For the time he was out, he felt better and his headache wasn’t as bad.  
It was Aaron’s day to have Jack today, he would here in a few hours. He was excited to see his son, but also was exhausted and didn’t think he’d be much fun for Jack tonight. Not that he was anyway, these days. But he wasn’t in a sociable mood. 

Aaron was practicing writing on a paper when he felt it, the humiliation burned inside him and he felt red. He felt the dampness coming from down below, he sighed, it had been weeks since he’d done that. He thought he was getting better at feeling it, he hadn’t had an accident in so long. If the doctors found out, they’d easily keep him in the god awful pull up things that may as well be diapers. 

There was a day in rehab, when he’d first got there, he remembered the first accident he’d had. The nurses were patronising, treating him with little respect and comfort about it, that was until Emily showed and sorted it all. Claiming it was a small error and it wasn’t his fault.  
The embarrassment was too much for him, for her to see him do that. It was then, and it certainly was now. 

He started getting worked up, he felt himself getting hot and flustered. His breathing became fast, not again he thought. This was the second time today his emotions had got the best of him. He put his hands to his head, a small groan escaping as he tried to calm himself before Emily heard. 

It was too late, she had heard already and came rushing in.  
“What’s up?” She asked, wiping a tear from his cheek.  
“I- I can’t fucking do it.” He said in between a sob.  
“Do what?” She asked, taking his hand into hers.  
“I- I couldn’t feel it coming..” he sighed, pointing down below.  
She sighed, she knew how hard this bit was to him, it was prob the part that pissed him off the most. It was the humiliation, this was something toddlers did, not grown men. 

“It’s okay...it’s not major, you’ve done well for a while now.” She said, reassuring him.  
“It’s- not okay!” He shouted, he was getting angry now.  
Emily gasped, letting him get out his anger, she knew he couldn’t help it. “Come on..let’s get you cleaned up, I’ll run a bath.” She said, softly. She wasn’t phased by it, she had seen it happen before, it didn’t gross her out. It just made her feel bad for Aaron, because it was a while since this had happened. It could be just because he was having a bad day, he hadn’t been like this for a while. 

Emily drew him the bath, and helped him in, he could manage cleaning himself it was just his hair that he needed assistance with.  
“Do you want to relax for a bit?” She asked, after she had helped wash his hair.  
He nodded, “Yeah”  
“I’ll come back in 20 minutes” she said, kissing him softly before leaving.

Aaron sighed, his day had gone from bad to worse, it had been the worst day he’d had in a while. Sometimes, he wondered how Emily could cope with him. His mood swings were hard, and they must be for her too. He mentally made note that once he was able to do so, he would spend the days treating her for being there through it all. She deserved a medal, he never made it easy. Even before his accident, he was stubborn and not the easiest to be with. 

Aaron closed his eyes, the bath was the first time today he had felt relaxed.  
He was exhausted, today had been emotionally draining. 

Emily came back in 20 minutes later, “Aaron, wake up.” She shook him gently.  
He mumbled, “Tired..” he said, not opening his eyes.  
She nodded, “I know, come on, we’ll get you into bed.” She said.  
“Can’t..Jack- coming” he said, he was surprised with himself that he’d remembered, and took note of the fact he was finally starting to process short term information. 

Emily helped him out of the bath and took him into the bedroom, he was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open. “I think we should rearrange Jack, I know you want to see him..but it’s been a long day, and your exhausted.”  
He nodded sadly, “Yeah..I-I think we- should.”  
She kissed his head, helping him into some joggers and a top.  
“I’m sorry about today..” he said, as he got into the bed and laid down.  
She shook her head, “You have nothing to be sorry for. Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise.” He nodded, and motioned for a kiss.  
She chuckled, kissing him softly, “Get some sleep, Aaron.” She said.  
He nodded, closing his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer.

Today was hard, his emotions had been all over the place and he hated how he wasn’t in control of that. But he wasn’t going to give up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a happier chapter, but these chapters will be very up and down as his recovery will be a rollercoaster, but I hope your all enjoying the story :)

Emily started back to work next week, and Aaron was getting more uncomfortable with the situation. They had found a caretaker, she was recommended off many sites and doctors,and luckily she had free time to spare. Aaron didn’t mind the girl, it wasn’t ideal, but he tolerated her. Although the girl thought he hated her, he hadn’t made things easy for her on her trial day, much to Emily’s disapproval. 

Aaron’s hand movements were getting a lot better, he could now brush his teeth independently and managed to feed himself to a point, although he still needed a little help and messed up often. The main thing was that he wasn’t incapable of doing it now, and each time he could feel a little more proud, even though he didn’t let it show. 

He had been at physical therapy in the morning and speech and linguistic therapy in the afternoon, it was safe to say he was exhausted by the time it had all finished. “Aaron? There’s something I want to talk to you about.” Emily said softly, coming to sit next to him, he was laying back on the sofa getting ready to rest his eyes.   
“Yeah?” He said tiredly, looking at her.   
“Rossi is having a little dinner at his house tomorrow with the team..they’re making pasta, and he invited us both. But it’s up to you, if you’d wanna go? I know how you got last time” she said with a small smile.   
He thought about it for a second, weighing out the positives and negatives in his head. Until he realised, they were his family too, they wouldn’t judge or make him feel inferior.   
He nodded, “Y- yeah. I’d like that.” He said, exchanging the smile she had given.   
She smiled widely, “Great! And if you feel uncomfortable or tired at any point, we can leave.” She kissed him softly, this was good news. He’d not had any social interaction with people except herself, Jack and his therapists in weeks. He felt too self conscious to go out, so this was a big improvement. Although it wasn’t a physical improvement, it was just important.

Aaron wondered if he would regret decision, he’d not been out properly since his accident and it could end disastrous. For starters, he could end up having another emotional outburst like last time, he could embarrass himself whilst eating and have to be fed which was the LAST thing he wanted. He could get too tired and ruin the night, he could have another accident, he knew they were rare but it was still a possibility. He sighed, trying to overcome the worries, these were his daily worries the only difference was it was now around more people that he could end up in one of these states. 

Aaron closed his eyes, thinking back to the rehab centre, nothing could be worse than the first week off the feeding tube. He could barely speak, and was on puréed food and all the team had decided to come to see himself. It was safe to say Aaron wasn’t happy with that, he felt like a child being fed puréed food and not being able to tell them properly that he wanted them to leave. So, it ended in disaster and an outburst, to which they all left. 

But he had to remember, that was when he was just out of hospital, what did he expect that he’d magically be able to be better? Brain injuries were a tricky one, there wasn’t a time period of recovery, it could take longer or shorter than Aaron expected. 

That night, Jack was coming round for dinner, Aaron had napped before he came and was awoke by Jack coming in. That was a recurring theme. He was just exhausted all the time, no matter if he did little to nothing that day or he had therapy all day long.   
“Hey daddy!” Jack said, coming onto his lap.  
Aaron let out a smile, “Hey, buddy. How- how’ve you been?” He asked  
“I’ve missed you!” He said, wrapping his hands around his neck.   
Aaron chuckled, “I miss- missed you too”   
“Your hair is a mess, daddy!” He giggled, as Aaron’s hair was all messy and all over the place.  
He chuckled a little, “Yeah- I’ve just woke up.”   
“It’s almost dinner!” Jack gasped, in disbelief.   
Aaron shook his head, “From a nap, not from last night”   
Jack chuckled, “Emmy said as a treat we can all have pancakes for dinner!” He clapped his hands excitedly.   
Aaron rolled his eyes playfully, “of course she did, that woman will do anything for pancakes”

Emily scoffed, coming into the living room, “What are you complaining about, pancakes are good! Aren’t they, Jack?”   
Jack nodded in agreement with Emily, “Yeah, sorry daddy you loose.” He said, running off Aaron’s lap and going to give Emily a hug.   
She chuckled, hugging him back and looking back at Aaron as she mouthed, “I’m the best, ha!”   
Aaron rolled his eyes and mouthed back, “In your dreams” 

——  
It was the evening of Rossi’s dinner, Emily had helped Aaron dress into a suit, which surprised them both because it had been so long since he’d been in anything other than some joggers and a plain top. He sighed, he missed wearing suits, it reminded him of his work. God, how he missed work, how he missed actually being able to do things. 

Emily came out the bathroom, she was dressed in a tight black dress that clung to her curves perfectly, and came just above the knee. “You look amazing.” He smiled as he looked up at her.   
She grinned, “So do you..I forgot how hot you looked in a suit” she said, moving down and kissing him softly. What he would do right now to fuck her, it has been months but they both knew they couldn’t. Not until he was better. That was another reason Aaron was eager to get stronger, he still got horny often and has nothing to do about it. 

Emily gathered their things to go and went to go get Aaron from the living room. As she walked in, she saw he was breathing heavily, in a panic. “Hey..sweetie..what’s up?” She said crouching down next to him.   
He shook his head, tears hadn’t fell which was a good sign, he was just panicking. “I’m just- I’m really nervous” he said, through breaths.   
She nodded, “Theres nothing to be nervous about, their our team”   
He nodded, swallowing as he tried to even his breaths, “I’m okay..I’m okay..” he said exhaling.   
“You sure your up too going?” She asked, she didn’t want to feel like this was forced on him because she had wanted to go.   
He nodded, “I want too..I just- I panicked”   
She nodded, kissing him softly, she’d read that helped calm nerves. “Your okay, your just overthinking it.”   
Once he had calmed, they had set off. 

When they got too Rossi’s, Emily helped Aaron back into his wheelchair and walked inside with him, the door was open so she presumed Rossi had wanted them to just walk in.   
“Emily, Hotch!” Garcia exclaimed, running to them both. She was careful this time, she didn’t want to bombard Aaron so she didn’t hug him like she had the last time, but simply went over to say hi.   
“Hey!” Emily smiled, “We brought wine for everyone” Emily said, bringing out the bottle from the bag.  
Garcia took it excitedly, “Can I pour you both a glass?” She asked.   
Emily shook her head, “I’m driving.”   
Hotch looked up at Garcia, “I- I can’t...medication and all.”   
“I’m sure, one glass won’t hurt Aaron”  
Aaron reluctantly nodded, “Yeah- okay then.” He said, as Garcia poured into a wine glass she moved to pass it to him, in which Aaron sighed and looked up at Emily.   
Emily took it, placing a straw in it and holding it out for him to take a sip, once he’d taken a sip she put it on the side. 

The three of them went to join the rest of the group, all exchanging hellos.  
Aaron got over his nerves, sure he was still self conscious about it all, but they were all acting like nothing had happened which he liked.   
Emily got up to go over to Rossi, who was busy cooking in the kitchen, “Hey, what can I do for you?” Rossi asked.   
Emily looked to make sure Aaron wasn’t looking, “Are you okay cutting Aaron’s pasta up, so it’s easier for him to get pieces himself, I know he’s not going to want to get anyone else to help him” Emily said quietly.   
Rossi nodded, “That’s no problem.” He smiled, “Your good to him, Emily. He’s lucky to have you”   
Emily blushed, “I need him just as much as he needs me” she said, tucking a strand of hair back.   
Rossi nodded, “I always rooted for you two..back before you was even dating and you would both just exchange longing glances at each other on the plane, the sexual tension was too much to handle”   
Emily laughed, “Oh shut it, I see the way you look at Erin, what’s going on there?”   
Rossi shook his head, “Nothing..”   
Emily raised a brow, “Give it time, I’m rooting for you two” she smirked, as she went back over to them all.

Soon, dinner was ready and they were all sat out in Rossi’s backyard, the sun had just set and it was a warm evening. Emily quickly got out Aaron’s plastic utensils, which he gave her a thankful nod. Aaron ate his a lot slower than everyone else, but he managed to eat it all without help, minus the few spillages to his lap or chin, he was proud. Emily smiled as she watched him do it, she was happy for him, she knew how much he hated being fed. The rest of the team didn’t stare, or watch him do it as some of the nurses tended to do which always pressured him. Instead, they carried on with normal conversation. 

After dinner, they were all talking and having individual conversations. Reid had moved over to go and speak to Aaron, “Hey, Reid” Aaron said with a small smile.   
Reid did his usual soft smile, “I’ve wanted to ask you something..and I don’t want you to feel like you have to do, I just..I’ve been thinking of ways I could help you.”  
Aaron raised a brow, he was intrigued to where this was going.   
“And when I..when my mom was ill, I used to read to her and it helped her. And I’ve been- researching ways to help people with a brain injury, and I thought..maybe I could help you- with reading? I mean, you can say no, I just-“  
“I’d like that, thanks, Reid.” He said with a smile, usually he would of turned down help, it made him feel weak. However, it warmed him that Spencer had been trying to find ways to help him, he appreciated that. Plus, it was Spencer, the kid was a genius if anyone could help him it would be him. 

Hours had passed, and Aaron had genuinely enjoyed himself, it was rare he did these days. He had missed being with his team, and all his worries from earlier had disappeared. He was throughly enjoying the rest of the team get slightly TOO drunk, especially Morgan and Garcia. It was also making him laugh watching Spencer awkwardly try to flirt with JJ, although it looked like it was going well.   
He let out a yawn, followed by another one and the exhaustion hit him all at once. This was way later than he’d usually be awake, especially with no nap. His eyes were struggling to stay open but he was really trying. “I think someone’s ready for bed..” Emily said, coming behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.   
He chuckled tiredly, “Maybe..” he said, kissing her cheek.  
Emily smiled and moved around to face him, “Okay, me too to be honest.” She said before kissing him softly.   
“I doubt they’d even realise If we slipped out, they’re enjoying dancing” he said chuckling as he let out another yawn.  
Emily laughed, “Yeah, they certainly are...but we should tell them.” 

Emily and Aaron said their goodbyes and headed home, by the time they hit home, Aaron looked exhausted. “Did you have a nice time, tonight?” Emily asked, as she helped him out his suit.   
He nodded, “I did, thank you..for- everything. I doubt I would of been able to go if It wasn’t for you being so supportive and encouraging.”   
Emily smiled, sitting on his lap and kissing him softly, “You don’t need to thank me..I’m just happy..your happier” she said, tucking a strand of her hair back.   
He moved his hand up to her cheek, “I am, because of you” he said, moving her head down and kissing her head softly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo this chapter is how Aaron deals with Emily being on her first case and him being left, also we meet his caretaker who he isn’t so keen on   
> Also I’m sorry if this chapter seems a little messy, it’d really late here lol but I wanted to post a chapter before I slept

Emily had returned to work, so far, it was only office work and reports and no cases had been called in. Aaron wasn’t keen on being with the caretaker all name, her name was Talia, she was nice enough but he was uncomfortable being around new people and he didn’t like the fact that he needed a caretaker in the first place. He used to be fine with it, but ever since his accident, he had become more nervous around people he never knew.

Emily was getting ready for work, she had just got dressed and went down to make coffee. Talia would here soon and she had to leave before she was late. As she heard Talia come in, she grabbed her coffee to go and went to the bedroom to quickly kiss Aaron’s head before leaving. “I’m hoping for no case, but I’ll call you if there one” Emily said to Talia.   
Talia nodded, “Yeah, that’s okay. Have a nice day” she said as she watched Emily leave.

—-  
Aaron moaned as he woke up, fluttering his eyes open and sitting up slowly as he let out a yawn. “Emily?” He called out, rubbing his eyes.  
Talia came up the stairs, “Sorry. She had to leave about an hour ago for work.”   
Aaron sighed, disappointed, “Yeah” he said, he wished he was at work with his team and Emily right now. Not here. Stuck in a bed he couldn’t even get out of by himself.   
Talia went to grab some clothes out, “Do you want to try?” She asked, handing him the top.   
He nodded, as he tried to take off his shirt and grumbled when he couldn’t get it over his head. Talia chuckled and helped him, “Here, let me do it.” She said, putting the new shirt on for him. He sighed, he wanted a chance to be able to put the top on, but she had brushed it off and did it.   
Once he was dressed, she helped him into the wheelchair and downstairs into the kitchen. “Is oatmeal okay? There isn’t much else in” Talia asked.  
Aaron shrugged, he wasn’t really bothered.   
When it was made, he took the spoon and started eating it slowly. 

“So I was thinking we could do something today?” Talia asked.   
He glared at her, as he put his spoon down, finishing only half. “Like what?” He asked.   
She shrugged, “What would you want to to do?”   
“Well..your asking someone who can’t do anything. So, I don’t know” he said bluntly.  
She sighed, “I’ll try and think of something. How could you’ve only finished half?” She asked.   
He shrugged, “I didn’t want it.” He was in a foul mood, he just wanted Emily to be here, not this girl. 

And then the call he dreaded came.   
Emily had a case in Las Vegas, he sighed trying to keep it together. He’d not had any outbursts in front of Talia yet, and would prefer it to be kept that way.   
“Can I speak to Aaron?” Emily asked from the phone.   
“Sure” Talia said, gently handing Aaron the phone.   
“Hey..” Emily said softly.   
“Hey.” He said, in a low tone, she could tell he seemed upset.   
“I’m sorry, but I’m hoping it won’t be too long. I’ll be home when I can” she said, sighing.   
He knew as well as she did that these things were never predictable, he just hoped it wasn’t too long.   
“Okay..” he nodded, “I love you.” He added.  
“I love you too” Emily said before Aaron ended the call.

——  
Aaron was sat in his chair watching TV, he’d had no motivation all day. He reflected Talia’s offer to go on a walk, and sat staring at the screen. He didn’t actually know what was going on, he was deep in his own thoughts. He felt an empty pit in his stomach, he missed Emily a lot. He hadn’t realised how much until he was in his own thoughts, his emotions were all over the place.   
Before the accident, it wouldn’t of bothered him being away from Emily for a couple days, they’d even gone weeks.  
But since the accident, she’d always been there and now she wasn’t. It was safe to say he had clung to her, and now he was alone. 

“I need to go...” Aaron said awkwardly, to Talia.   
Talia nodded, wheeling him into the bathroom and helping him sit down, “They still make you wear these?” She asked in a soft tone, although it sounded condescending too Aaron and made him feel a little embarrassed.  
He nodded, “Y-yeah. Just in case..”   
“That must suck.” She didn’t mean to sound how she did about it, but it came across that way to Aaron, and if kind of offended him.   
He sighed and nodded, deciding not to talk to her. 

“You have physical therapy later on” Talia said, when she wheeled him back into the living room.   
He nodded, “I know. I remember” he had begun to start remembering small things, that he usually forgot about. It was progress. 

Aaron was sat alone, this day sucked. Just as the next couple of days would, he just wanted her case to be over already. Although he was at home, it felt foreign, like he didn’t belong. He could feel himself becoming overwhelmed, breathing slowly in and out to try control himself.   
Tears threatened to fall and once again he found himself victim to his own emotions getting the better of him. A sob escaped as he put his hands in his face. 

After a few minutes of breaking down, Aaron had calmed and luckily Talia was nowhere to be seen. Saved himself the embarrassment of crying in front of someone he barely knew. He sighed, as he tried to reach for his drink on the side, it was in a glass cup which he hadn’t got the hang of holding properly yet. As he took into his hands, he went to bring it to his mouth but it slipped out his hand and shattered onto the floor. He groaned in frustration, “Fuck.” He exclaimed, getting angry. 

Talia came rushing in, seeing the glass smash, “Mr Hotchner are you okay?” She asked.  
He nodded, closing his eyes, “Just wanted a drink..” he said with a sigh.   
“Right, just shout me next time, saves this mess. You know you can’t hold glass” she said as she went to clean it.   
He nodded sadly, she made him feel like it was his fault. Like he had meant to do it. Either way, he was stuck with this woman for the next few days, so he had to deal with it. 

After Aaron’s physical therapy which went well, he had channelled all his frustration he had into working hard throughout the session, he had managed to stand up from his chair and take a few steps. He was happy with himself for doing it but he had nobody to share that with, usually he’d tell Emily about the progress made and they’d both be pleased. He didn’t want to tell Talia, she’d probably tell him it wasn’t far enough. 

Talia cooked dinner for them both and put Hotch’s plate in front of him, “Make sure not to spill anything this time” she joked, into which she received a glare from Aaron but he didn’t speak to her.   
He took a few bites and put his fork down, groaning.   
“What’s up? Don’t you like it?” She asked.   
“I just..I’m not feeling well” he said.  
“You didn’t eat much this morning, and skipped lunch. What’s wrong?” She asked. “Just because Emily isn’t here doesn’t mean you can’t eat”   
Aaron frowned at her, “It’s not to do with that. I just- I don’t feel very well.”   
“Why? What’s the matter?” She asked, placing a hand on his forehead, his temperature was a little high.   
“I just feel..really nauseous, and my head.” He said with a groan.  
Talia nodded, “Maybe get some sleep and see how you feel.” She said getting up to take him to the bedroom.   
“Wait- I need...I’m going to vomit.” He said, holding his stomach.   
Talia gasped, quickly wheeling him to the bathroom, just in time for him to vomit into the toilet.   
He groaned as he finished, what a perfect day to get sick Aaron, he thought. He didn’t like the idea that his new caretaker would be the one there when he was sick, not Emily.   
Talia grimaced, vomit disgusted her, “Okay...let’s get you into bed.” She said, wheeling him into the bedroom and helping him onto the bed. She was in no way soothing to him, which was both a good and a bad thing.  
He sighed, closing his eyes almost instantly as he put his head on the pillow. 

—-  
As Aaron slept,the phone rang, it was Emily.   
Talia picked it up, “Hey, Emily.” Talia said sweetly.  
“Hey, Talia. Is Aaron free?” She asked, she had missed her husband and wanted to talk to him.   
“I’m sorry, he’s just fell asleep.”  
“Sleep? Isn’t it dinner time in DC?”   
“Yeah, but he’s not feeling too well. He’s been vomiting and complained of headaches.”   
Emily sighed, “Is he okay?”   
“I think so, hopefully he’ll rest it off.”  
“Keep me posted to how he is, and call me when he wakes I want to talk to him.” Emily said, before saying goodbye and hanging up.  
She was worried about Aaron, she always was. But she missed him herself, a lot more than she thought she would. Sure, she’d been apart from him before but she’d never missed him as much as she did now. 

Aaron was sleeping peacefully, he prayed the case was going to be done quick. He hated being left with Talia, he hardly knew her and this made him really uncomfortable. Especially if he’d come down with something, the last thing he wanted was for Talia to be the one taking care of him. He wanted Emily to come home so he could tell her his progress he had made in therapy today, he knew she’d be over the moon by it. Today’s therapy session had given him hope, hope that after all maybe he could walk again one day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii I just wanted to thank you for the support, it means a lot and I’m glad your enjoying the story, I just wanted to add that this story isn’t going to all the happiest. As there will be bad days and good days, as there would be for anyone with a TBI, so I’m trying to make it as real as possible as recovery from a TBI is hard. So I’m trying to focus on how it would affect him physically and mentally, and also how it’s hard on Emily.

Aaron awoke that next morning, looking around as he woke , he let out a yawn and saw Talia enter. He sighed to himself, he was hoping Emily would of been back, it was a long stretch as knew himself the cases weren’t always so quick to solve. He wouldn’t of ever been bothered of leaving Emily for a few days, but since his accident he was a lot more emotional, which was nothing like he ever used to be. The accident had changed him, not just psychically. Sometimes he thought the worse thing about the whole accident was how his emotions had changed, not his physical injuries. Sure, his physical injuries had left him dependant on others but he was getting better everyday physically, but his emotional pain never went away. He hated being out of control with how he felt, he used to be so good at concealing his feelings, now it was like he was open book much to his own discomfort. 

“Good morning, Aaron.” Talia said, sitting down on the bed, her tone was almost patronising and he was getting sick of it. Sick of being treated different, more delicately and like he would break. He wasn’t fragile. 

“Morning.” He said, as he slowly sat up, groaning as all of his weight pulled down on his arms. A wave of nausea hit him, and then he remembered last night. He didn’t feel like he was going to throw up just yet, but he knew he wasn’t feeling 100%.   
She placed a hand behind his back and helped him sit up, in which he glared at her, he could do it. She could see he could do it. He just needed time. He was slow but not incapable.   
“How are you feeling this morning? After last night?” She asked.   
He shrugged, “Nauseous.” He said, closing his eyes.  
She nodded, “Maybe getting breakfast and your meds will help.” She said, before taking out some clothes, “Let’s get you dressed.” 

Once she had helped him dress, much to his dislike as she hadn’t given him chance to try do it himself, she took him downstairs. She handed him his meds, and left the plastic cup on the table as she went off to make breakfast. Aaron popped the meds into his mouth, and shakily took the cup, he wasn’t sure he could hold it for long. He took the cup to his lips, shakily sipping it, missing his lips a couple times which led him to frustration. As he took the cup away from his lips, he felt his hand slipping off the cup as he shakily held it. Don’t drop it, please, he pleaded to himself.   
However, his hands gave way, and he spilt the cup onto his lap. He groaned with frustration, he felt himself getting hot with anger. He knew he shouldn’t of tried, it was his own fault, or was it, after all Talia should of helped him.

“Aaron.” She sighed, bringing over a cloth to dry his pants. “I’m going to have to change you after.” She added. He sighed, not saying much, he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t help it, he had tried, he really had. He thought maybe he was strong enough to hold the cup, but it was too wide and it had been in his hands too long. He was angry at himself, plus it didn’t help Talia wasn’t pleased. He hadn’t even tried to stick up for himself, he didn’t have the energy and it would just make him more angry. 

Talia brought him him some cereal, which he ate slowly. He could feel her watching him, he didn’t like being watched, he knew he could do this. There was no need for prying eyes, he wasn’t a child.   
“Has Emily rang?” He asked, after he had managed half his cereal, he felt too nauseous for the rest.   
She shook her head, “She did last night, but you were asleep.”   
He sighed, brilliant, the only time he could of spoke to her and of course he was asleep. “Did she give any indication to when she’d be back?” He asked, it was a long shot.   
Talia shook her head again, “No, sorry.” She said, taking the bowl away.   
He sighed, he didn’t like this one bit, the thing that made this whole situation worse was this was only the first case. He knew they’d be more. He wished he could get back into work, even if it was desk jobs. But until he improved his linguistic skills, there was no chance of that. He was getting better, Reid had been around a few times since he had offered, which he had to admit helped him a lot. The kid was a genius. His writing had improved, at the start of his recovery, he couldn’t even write his own name. Now he was writing sentences, but slowly and not enough for him to be even considered to be able to work. 

—-

After breakfast, Talia decided to run him a bath, he didn’t feel the most comfortable with this situation but he knew he had to wash at some point.   
As Talia undressed him, he felt self conscious all of a sudden and embarrassed, he’d never been fully naked in front of her. Or anyone since his accident except Emily. He had started overthinking in his head again, this was a frequent occurrence. He felt exposed, almost violated being this open in front of someone who he barely would class as an acquaintance. As he got into the bath, he put his knees to his chest, so he wasn’t as open.   
Usually, Emily would leave and let him relax, but it didn’t look like that was happening as he watched Talia sit on the toilet seat.  
“You..can go, you know?” Aaron said, bluntly.   
Talia shook her head, “I don’t want to risk it..”   
“I’m not a child.” He said bitterly, “Get out.”   
Talia swallowed, “Okay, sorry.” She said, standing up and leaving.   
As she left, he stretched his legs back up, sitting back. He sighed, looking up at the roof, closing his eyes. He may as well try to have a nap. 

He started remembering his first bath at the rehab place, he hadn’t been comfortable with it at all. He was a man who valued independence, and being sponge bathed was demeaning. He had remembered Emily being there, he had only allowed them to let him be bathed unless Emily was there. She was there as he was getting emotional about it, in tears for not wanting to go in. But as usual, she managed to calm him and helped, in a way that wasn’t patronising. She was so calm about it, she understood his struggle and didn’t get annoyed once, despite how hard he had made it. She truly was amazing, he’d known that before but now she wasn’t here he had started to realise how much she had done, he started to appreciate it more. He knew he wasn’t the easiest, but she’d never gave him on him. He wanted her to come back, so he could tell her how much he loved her and appreciated it all. 

Soon after, Talia came in and helped him out, dressing him once again but changing the pants as they were still a little damp.   
The rest of the day went slowly, the highlight of his day being his speech and linguistic therapist coming.   
Then his phone rang, it was Emily, he didn’t really go on his phone often but he picked it up faster than he’d ever done before.   
“Aaron?” She said softly. It was good to hear her voice, finally someone familiar.   
“Hey, Em” he replied, a sigh of relief escaping.   
“You okay?” She asked, she noticed he sounded a little off, even through the phone she could tell how he was, what kind of mood he seemed to be in.   
“Yeah, I’m just- tired, and..I miss you” he admitted.  
“I miss you too, it shouldn’t be long..we delivered the profile already, it’s just a case of catching the guy now.”  
“Good, thank god” he said.  
Emily smiled a little, she knew the first case was going to be the hardest for him, they hadn’t been apart since the accident. “How are you doing?” She asked.   
“I just told you..” he said, raising a brow.  
“No, you told me how you felt now. How have you been doing in general?”   
He sighed, he felt his face redden and felt himself getting hotter, “I just..not great” he admitted, there was no hiding anything from Emily, he should of known better than that.   
She sighed, “I’m sorry.”  
He shook his head, “No- don’t apologise, I know that it’s not your fault..I just wish I had- I had more control of how I’m feeling.”  
“Well, just remember..I love you”   
“I love you too.” He said, he felt a pit in his stomach.  
“I have to go..but, I’ll call again when I can, okay?”   
“Yeah, goodbye.” He said, before they ended it, it was good hearing her voice. But it made him miss her more, tears glistened in his eyes as a few fell.  
Damn, emotions.   
He brushed them away, as he heard Talia coming in. “It’s almost dinner.” She said.   
He nodded, throughout the day, his nausea had disappeared which was good. He didn’t want to get sick in front of her, or in general really. 

—-  
After they had dinner, there was a silence as he sat at the table, not knowing what to talk about or wanting too. He was exhausted. Suddenly, he heard the door bell ring, and he was confused as to who it could be. It wouldn’t be Emily, even if the case had finished she still had to get home and it wasn’t long enough. It couldn’t be Jack, he’d remembered when he had Jack, surely he hadn’t forgot.   
Talia was just as confused as him, “I didn’t realise we had guests” she said, getting up.  
He shrugged, “We don’t.” He said as he watched her leave the room to answer the door.   
He hadn’t been able to hear who it was, but he heard the door shut and two pairs of footsteps coming. He heard a familiar clink of heels, surely not, he thought. As he looked up, he saw Garcia standing at the door.  
She smiled widely, “Evening sir.” She said  
Hotch raised a brow, “Good evening, Garcia” he said, he was confused as to why she was here, not that he didn’t like a familiar face.   
“Right, your wondering why I’m here...well, I brought donuts” she said, showing her box of her donuts, “and I was sat in my office..bored and alone, because well, they don’t need me at the moment. So I thought, I’d come and visit you..if that’s okay, I mean.. I thought it would be nice” she rambled, which made Aaron chuckle. Her ability to talk at 100 miles per hour always baffled him. 

“No, that’s..nice of you, Garcia.” He said with a smile, he was genuinely happy she was here. It saved him being around Talia and he was warmed that she’d thought of him.   
Garcia smiled wide, coming to sit next to him, “Would you like a donut, sir?” She asked.   
He nodded, “How can I say no?” He chuckled as she handed him the box, he took one and slowly ate it.   
To his surprise, Garcia was fun to spend time with, sure she rambled on half the time but she had started playing one of her favourite movies and it shocked him that he enjoyed it.   
During Garcia’s time there, she had helped them find the unsub and he was happy to find out that they were on their way back. Garcia had offered to stay with Aaron till Emily came back, as it was just a few hours and Talia had gone home. Aaron wasn’t complaining, he felt a lot more comfortable around Penelope and he didn’t like Talia at all. 

—-  
Aaron had dozed off through the second movie Garcia had put on, and was sound asleep by the time the team had landed. Garcia found it a little strange, watching her boss asleep next too her, but it made her happy that he had let her come in. She remembered how he was at the start of his accident, he was cold and shut the team out, this certainly was an improvement. Maybe he’d finely realised after all that the team were his family too, and cared for him. 

Emily walked through the door, and crept to the living room, she wasn’t sure if either of them would be awake. She chuckled, as she walked in, seeing Garcia also asleep on the sofa. Aaron had heard noise as the door shut and opened his eyes to see what was going, as he saw Emily standing in the living room a smile grew on his face. “Hey, sweetheart” he whispered, not wanting to wake Garcia up.  
She smiled, coming over to him and kissing him gently but longingly, “I’ve missed you so much” she said.   
He nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “I’ve missed you too”   
They both looked at Garcia and chuckled, “Shall we leave here there, it’s late and I’d feel mean sending her home so late” Emily said.   
Aaron nodded, “Yeah, it was nice to see someone I actually liked though.”  
“You don’t like Talia?” She asked, as she played with his hair.   
He shook his head, “We’ll discuss it tomorrow, I bet your tired.”  
She nodded with a small yawn, “A bed and a cuddle from my husband sounds perfect right about now”   
He chuckled, kissing her cheek, as they went to the bedroom.   
They had both got into bed, it had been a long day for them both, and they were just happy to be back with each other. Emily rested her head on Aaron’s chest, “Goodnight” she said softly.   
“Goodnight, sweetheart” he said, stroking her head as he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a few days since Emily got back from the case and luckily no other case had come through, so she was just working the days. Aaron had lied to Emily and said he liked Talia, because he didn’t want to be a nuisance finding another person to fill the spot, and she wasn’t too bad.  
This morning , Emily didn’t have to go in till late afternoon, which Aaron was happy about as he usually didn’t wake up to her still here. He been sleeping a lot more lately, his therapy lessons were starting to exhaust him. 

“Do you have to go to work?” Aaron said, grabbing her arm from the bed and pulling her in for a kiss.  
“Unfortunately..yes.” Emily sighed, kissing him back softly.  
He sighed., “I wish I could do more..it gets so boring staying here day after day..”  
She nodded, “I know, but at least therapy is improving, did she say she’s confident that you’ll be able to go on a walker soon?” She asked.  
“Yeah but it’d only be for a few minutes..I won’t be able to last long on it”  
“Aaron- stop thinking of the negatives, this is a good thing”  
He nodded, “I know.”  
“Anyway...speaking of positives, JJ and Spencer’s wedding is coming up soon.”  
As it turned out, much to the teams surprise, although it wasn’t much of a surprise. JJ and Spencer had been secretly dating, but they had decided they couldn’t keep it in any longer and Spencer had proposed. Everybody was happy for them, the team had been rooting them for a while.

Aaron sighed, “I know.” Ever since he found out, he was happy for them obviously, but he was dreading the day. He had been overthinking everything, he wasn’t comfortable in social settings and the wedding was certainly a large social situation.  
Even though Aaron had never mentioned his worries to her, she knew he was worried about it. “Your going to be fine..it’s going to be a good day. And a chance for you to get out like you’ve been complaining about”  
He nodded, “I know it’s just-“ he didn’t finish the sentence, there was many things he could have said, but didn’t. There was many things that worried him about the wedding, for starters the majority of the bureau seeing him so weak, not to mention the people he wasn’t going to know there. He decided to try erase it from his mind, before his thoughts overwhelmed him and he ended up panicking.

“Do you want to get up before Talia comes?” She asked.  
He nodded, scooting slowly to the end of the bed, “Here.” She said, passing him some clothes. He slowly took his top off, replacing it with the new one. He could manage his top half, it was just the bottom half he struggled with. Putting the medical pull up on was a struggle, not to mention taking his pants on and off. He thought by now he would of been cleared to take the horrendous pull ups off, but when he had gone to the doctor, he had told him to keep it on for the time being in case. It worried Aaron when he had told him that, did the doctor not think he was making progress?

Aaron scooted into his hair, groaning a little as he did, it took his strength to carry his weight up. But he managed. When they got into the kitchen, Emily poured him some fresh orange juice, putting a straw in it and holding it in front of Aaron so he could sip it. He was getting better at holding cups, but it didn’t last long and it was too wide for him to grip onto for while. 

Soon after he’d finished breakfast, which was more like brunch at this time. Reid had decided to turn up, which was a surprise to them both. “Why aren’t you at work?” Emily asked, sipping her coffee.  
“I finished my report..and read all my old ones over. So, I took an early finish. And thought..maybe, I could read” he said with a smile, showing Aaron some books he had brought.  
Aaron nodded, “Thank you Reid..” he said, smiling at the man.  
Emily smiled, “Okay, well Talia is going to be here in 15, so..I’m going to head off if Spencer is here.” She said, coming over and kissing Aaron softly.  
He nodded, kissing back, “I’ll see you tonight.”  
“See you tonight” she smiled, saying goodbye to Spencer and grabbing her bag as she left. 

Reid had spent just over 2 hours with Aaron, it really helped and Aaron could feel himself improving. Reid never pushed any boundaries, making sure Aaron was comfortable with Reid both reading it to him and when he asked Aaron to read some. It made Aaron wonder if Reid was in the right profession, but them there was probably hundreds of things this man could do.  
Once Reid left, Talia came in through from the kitchen. She’d kept clear of him whilst he was with Reid.  
“Do you want to go on a walk? It’s sunny out.” Talia suggested.  
Usually, Aaron would say no, but Reid had put him in a good mood. He nodded, “Okay. Yeah” he said.  
Talia nodded and smiled a little, maybe she wasn’t too bad after all, he thought. 

—-  
The walk was nice, it gave Aaron fresh air he barely got these days and it was a nice day. It had been a while since he’d left the house for anything other than doctor appointments. 

That night soon came, and Emily had arrived back from work. “Did you have a nice day?” Emily asked him, as she sat her stuff down.  
He nodded, “Yeah..it was actually good. I- I read a lot for myself, thanks to Spencer.” He said.  
“That’s good, see , I told you..these things are a good thing” she chuckled.  
“Is Jack coming tonight?” He asked.  
She replied with a nod, maybe tonight Aaron could read to him for a change.

When Jack arrived for once Aaron was awake before, he hadn’t had a nap today. He didn’t know if that was a good thing that he wasn’t as tired, or a bad thing that he knew later he would be more crammed than he usually was when he got tired at night. 

“Hey, Jack. What do you say..I read you your new book?” Aaron asked, as Jack sat on his lap.  
Jack nodded, a little surprised as he knew it was something his dad wasn’t well with at the moment. When Aaron had been injured, they told Jack he had bumped his head and that’s why he was like this now, they didn’t want to scare him by telling him he was in an accident.  
Jack got the book from his bag and opened it up, so Aaron could start reading it. Aaron read it slowly, although it was a children’s book, he was impressed with himself. Not long ago, he wouldn’t of been able to read anything, and now he was reading a full book.  
—-  
A few hours later, Jack had left and Emily was cleaning up the kitchen and dining room. Aaron was exhausted, and his head was pounding, this was a common symptom since his accident. Every other day, his head would cause him pain and trouble. Emily came into the living room, “Do you want to go to bed?” She asked, seeing him barely able to open his eyes.  
He shook his head, before letting out a yawn, too which Emily chuckled. “I think you, sweetie” she said, kissing his head.  
He nodded reluctantly, “Fine..” he said as he rubbed his eyes.

Emily helped him into bed and she could tell he was tired when he didn’t try to resist her helping him undress, as he didn’t have the energy to do it himself.  
“Can you stay?” He said, sleepily.  
Emily chuckled, “I’ll be up shortly, I’ve got some stuff to sort.”  
“Please..” he whined, pleading with her. It wasn’t often he got this sleepy that he became attached to her, but she knew he couldn’t help it. She actually found it kind of cute. Beforehand, he wouldn’t of been bothered either way if she was with him or not when he fell asleep, but this was another emotion he couldn’t control when he felt it.  
She laughed a little, “Okay.” She said, giving in and sitting on the bed.  
Aaron moved his head onto her chest, and started drifting slowly asleep, as she stroked his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope u enjoyed, and enjoyed another different emotion to what Aaron is like, next chapter is JJ and Spencer’s wedding so stay tuned :)
> 
> Also, a few people have said that it’d be interesting to explore Talia as a more abusive caretaker (emotionally and maybe a little physically but not a lot of that side) and Aaron hides it from Emily because of pride, but I wanted your thoughts on that before I explored it more and if that’s something that you would find interesting to explore and to add some drama  
> So please let me know your opinions on that :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii so thank you for your comments and I’ve decided to go along with the Talia idea because I think it’d be interesting to explore and it adds drama, plus men’s abuse is not nearly enough spoken about as it should be and especially not verbally and emotionally which is mainly what Talia is going to be like.  
> Also Jeid wedding is here ❤️

Emily had gone away on a case too LA yesterday, Aaron hadn’t liked it and didn’t feel comfortable about it, but he was in a better mood about it than last time.  
It was a few days until the wedding, he was both nervous and excited as he was shook for them.  
Talia was here and was being surprisingly helpful, she hadn’t spoke in a patronising way and he thought maybe she’d changed now he was used too her.

He’d spent the morning relaxing ready for psychical therapy which turned out to be the best session yet. In fact, he had improved so much his therapist had let him keep his Walker there to practice. Although, he could only stand and take a few small steps, it was a lot of improvement and he was finally happy he could even get a few steps in.  
When they physical therapist had left, Aaron decided to start practicing with the Walker. He gripped his hands tightly onto it, and got up shakily. Talia was watching, laughing softly at how ridiculous he looked, but he was trying to ignore it.  
As he took a few steps, he exhaled as he felt himself unable to take anyone, “Is that all you can do? Your therapist said that’s..improvement?” She chuckled, raising a brow.  
He swallowed, “Uh-yeah.” He said, it had degraded him and put his confidence down. He didn’t feel like continuing.  
“Try more, then I may be able to buy this whole ‘doing well’ thing” she said.  
He nodded, he wanted to prove he could do this, he took a couple more but had started to shake. His therapist had said he shouldn’t push it, he has only just started walking again.  
Aaron exhaled, as he felt himself loosing balance and gasped as he fell to the floor, unable to take it. “See..I told you.” She said, going down next too him to help him back up. “I should really leave you down here to see if you could get back over.”  
“P- please don’t..” he said quietly, he was embarrassed he had fell, he was doing well earlier and this had really shot down his confidence. He should have known not to push it, it was his own fault, he thought.  
“Sorry, what was that?” She said, raising a brow. It was like she wanted to hear him plead for it.  
“Please, don’t.” He said louder, as an almost plead.  
Talia sighed and helped him back up onto his chair, “you should have known not to push it.” She said bluntly.  
“Y- you told me..to do it”  
“No, I said do it if you’ve improved which you clearly haven’t and you shouldn’t have done it” he didn’t reply, just nodding as he looked down. He used to be confident, maybe he would have spoke up and said that he only did it because he knew he has improved. But he didn’t have the confidence to do that.  
“Since all that, I think it’s time you take a nap” she said.  
He nodded, “Okay.” He said, as she adjusted his chair and put a blanket over him.

—  
The next few days, Talia didn’t stop her calling him out, she would say he would fail at everything he did and that he wasn’t improving, when in fact every therapist had realised an improvement in him. She would put him down when he got upset or had an emotional outburst that wasn’t his fault, she would claim it was. He couldn’t even think about telling Emily, it was too embarrassing for him, so he decided to keep it in. All the words she would call him would replay over and over in his head, to the point he had started to believe some himself. 

—-  
It was a good few days, without Talia there and Emily being back. He’d seen Jack and they’d all gone to the park, and it had been good.  
Today was the day of the wedding, after the week he’d had the last thing he wanted to do was go to the wedding, after everything he’d been told this week he didn’t want to embarrass himself there.  
“Here you go” Emily said, passing him his suit shirt to put on. He put it on, managing the bottom buttons but not the others. She smiled a little, they were fiddley, she moved over and helped him button the last few. “You look good.” She said with a small smirk.  
He chuckled and looked at her up and down, “yeah but you look hot” he smirked, she was in a long dress dress and her hair was lightly curled. He still had never understood how he got so lucky.  
“We should go, or we’ll be late.” She said, kissing him softly.  
He nodded, “Shall we bring your Walker? You’ve been making good progress and I’m sure it’d be nice for you to stand a bit at the reception.  
He remembered what Talia said, how he wasn’t improving, “I’m not..I’m not doing better”  
She nodded, “Yeah you are, you stood up for 15 minutes the other day without even needing to sit down.”  
“Okay..” he exhaled, “But I can’t guarantee I’ll use it.”  
She nodded understandingly and moved to get everything to the car.

—-  
The ceremony was beautiful, JJ and Spencer had wrote their own vows to each other which involved Spencer going off topic at least 5 times with his statistics, or random facts. But it was cute,and the team cheered when they finally were officially married. 

The reception arrived and the team were all on a table together, Aaron was unsure about the other guests, he didn’t really know any of them. Except members of the bureau from other departments that had shown, which all ended in awkward conversations about how he was doing.  
After the dinner, speeches came and Rossi had obviously took this time to say something sweet about the pair.  
The first dance was played to a song they could both actually agree on their love for, which was unusual as Spencer’s taste in Mozart was completely different to JJ’s kind of music.  
“This is a lovely reception.” Emily said to Aaron, as she sipped on her drink, her limit was one wine as she was driving.  
He nodded, “Do you remember ours?” He asked.  
She nodded, “Of course, how could I forget when you almost made me collapse by spinning me around so much on the first dance.” She chuckled.  
He laughed softly, “Don’t lie, you enjoyed it.”  
“Of course I did, but I didn’t enjoy the feeling next day after I decided to go all out on the bottles of wine we had bought for the tables”  
“Yeah, you was very..drunk, to say the least.” He laughed.  
She rolled her eyes, “I’d prefer to say...highly buzzed” 

Derek and Garcia came rushing over to them, “Have you seen the kid?” Derek said, in between a laugh.  
Aaron raised a brow, “No, why?”  
“I think he may have done an Emily..” Garcia said, referring to how she was drunk on her wedding day.  
The pair looked to where they pointed and both started laughingly, he was merrily dancing around which was very out of character for Spencer. Or to mention the fact he was the worst dancer in history. 

The rest of the night went quick, it was fun to be around everyone and amused the full team to see Spencer in such a drunken way. Almost everybody had gone, and Emily and Aaron were still there. The DJ was packing up, but had a slow song on in the background.  
“Aaron?” Emily said softly.  
“Yeah?” He said back, he had become tired by this point but was still awake.  
“Dance with me..” she said.  
He raised a brow, “How do you expect I do that?” He asked.  
“Well...think of me as your Walker, you can stay up straight for a while with that..so hold onto me and we’ll dance slowly.”  
He let out a sigh, debating it and was unsure if this would work. “Okay.” He nodded, he trusted Emily and knew she wouldn’t of said it if it was going to end disastrous.  
Emily had confidence in him, even if he didn’t believe in himself, she knew he was doing good.  
She offered her hand out and he slowly stood up, she helped him walk to the dance floor, it was a short distance. He gained his balance, shaking a little, “It’s okay..focus on me.” She said, as she put one hand on his shoulder, taking the other into her own.  
He nodded, placing his hand on her waist, they started dancing slowly but it was working. She was right, he could do it.  
Emily smiled widely, “See..I told you, your doing amazing” she said, genuinely happy.  
He chuckled, smiling back at her, he was proud he was able to do this. His confidence had been boosted despite being told all week he couldn’t by Talia, maybe he didn’t have to believe her.  
“I love you..Aaron Hotchner” she whispered into his ear.  
“I love you too, Emily Hotchner....and hopefully, at the next wedding..I’ll be able too dance with you properly.”  
She nodded, “I know you will be able to.” She said with a smile, “And whos your bets on for the next wedding? Garcia and Morgan or Strauss and Rossi?” She raised a brow.  
He chuckled, “if Rossi wants to fork out for a fourth wedding..then Rossi”

They spent a little while longer dancing, it was sweet, and they had both missed being so close to each other. When Aaron admitted he probably couldn’t hold up for much longer, they stopped and decided to go home. That night, they snuggled close to each other, it had been a good day. Aaron didn’t even think Emily realised how much of a help she was too him, he had faith in his recovery because of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cute hotchniss scene at the end melted my heart to write, hope you liked the chapter :)  
> Thank you for the support xoxo


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii , hope your all enjoying the story. This chapter is going to focus on Talia and Aaron for the majority. (Maybe a little Garcia coming in after a case again) I apologise in advance if you think Talia may be a little too mean, but this is how I’ve wrote her.

It had been 2 weeks since the wedding, and because Spencer and JJ were on their honeymoon, the full BAU had taken the same two weeks holiday.   
During this time, Aaron had gotten sick and had barely had any therapy sessions, he had caught a fever and it had drained him.   
The two weeks had soon passed, and the team were back to work, and they’d been called in for a case in New Orleans.

—  
Aaron had just had his first physical therapy session for two weeks and it had tired him out, he didn’t realise how much 2 weeks without therapy would make such a difference as he usually never got this tired after a session.   
“Good session?” Talia asked Aaron, coming into the living room.   
He shrugged, closing his eyes.   
“I asked you a question.” She said, folding her arm, her voice raised.  
He opened his eyes, startled by her voice getting louder, “Uh- yeah. I suppose.” He said.  
“Why don’t you try it now?” She asked.   
“Try what?”   
“Are you stupid?” She chuckled, “Try walking.” She said, bringing the Walker to him.  
He shook his head, “I’m really tired..I don’t want too.” He said, getting the feeling she wasn’t going to stop.   
“So you can’t do it.”   
“I never said that..” he said quietly.  
“You didn’t need too, you clearly can’t, someone who is tired would still do it.”  
He sighed, yawning, “Fine..I’ll do it.” He said.  
He got up weakly, he’d already had 2 hours of this and was worn out by it, “Come to me..” she said condescendingly, as she walked to the end of the room.   
He shook his head, “I- I can’t make it that far.”   
“Are you that weak?” She chuckled.   
He glared up at her, as he started walking slowly, he could feel his legs loosing pressure. “I can’t do it.” He said shakily, as he slipped and fell flat on his chest.   
Talia laughed, in a humiliating tone, “I knew it.”   
He looked up at her helplessly, as he whimpered from the fall, he didn’t land softly. It was like she wanted to humiliate him, to degrade him.   
“Don’t get upset.” She said, coming in front of him, folding her arms as she looked down at him.   
He bit his lip back to hold in the sobs, but it didn’t work as he let out a cry, “Don’t be such a baby, Aaron!” She shouted, as he continued, it only getting worse from her shouts.   
It was like he was a child getting told off from his teacher the way she was looking down at him and scolding him. He felt so small compared to her.   
“Im- I’m sorry.” He said quietly.  
“What was that?!” She said, raising her voice.   
“I’m sorry” he said quicker, and louder.   
“So you should be, your pathetic.” She scoffed,as she roughly helped him back into his chair.   
He looked down at the floor, feeling both humiliated and embarrassed. Not to mention hurt by her words.   
“Get some sleep.” She ordered, as if she was in control.   
He nodded, shaking a little, “Can I- can I have a blanket, please?” He asked.   
She rolled her eyes, grabbing a blanket from the sofa and passing it to him. 

He drifted off to sleep, her words replaying in his head. Pathetic. Weak. Baby. Stupid. 

—-

When Aaron woke, he felt the desperate need to go to the toilet, he was just pleased he’d felt it. “Talia..” he mumbled, she was sat in the other room but he could see her. When she didn’t reply, he groaned, “Talia!” He shouted.  
Talia came in, “What’s wrong ?” She asked, folding her arms.   
He swallowed, “I need..the toilet.” He said, the urge getting stronger.   
“Okay, let me finish what I’m doing and then I’ll take you.” She said walking off before giving him chance to speak.   
Almost 40 minutes had passed and he still hadn’t been taken, it was hurting so badly to hold it now, becoming almost impossible. He had called out a couple times, but she hadn’t replied and he felt embarrassed to keep calling her name out so much, he sounded too needy.   
Tears rolled down his face as he felt himself go, unable to hold it but having no other option. Usually when his accidents had happened, he’d not feel it till after it was done, but he could feel it all this time and it was embarrassing and degrading for him.  
About 10 minutes later, Talia made her way in, “You ready to go then?” She said carelessly. He let out a shaky breath, it was horrible sitting there with a damp bottom. “I couldn’t hold it...” he said anxiously.   
Talia let out a sigh, “Aaron! What are you,three?!”   
“I- I called out..but you didn’t hear me, and- it was ages since you said you’d come. And I couldn’t get to the toilet myself..” he said, sadly, tears threatening to spill.  
“But your not the one who now has to clean this MESS” she said, angrily. It made him gasp, she’d never raised her voice so loudly.  
“You go on about how your Improving..your clearly not!” She said, as she angrily wheeled him to his bedroom to change and clean.  
He sighed, he was really upset with her words and with what had happened,but she really had left him with no other option. He was too embarrassed to ever tell anyone about that.   
“Is that going to happen again?” She said after she’d finished, she was directly above him, folding her arms as she looked down at him.  
He shook his head, like he’d just received a telling off, “No” he said, peering up at her.   
“Good, it best not. It’s disgusting” she scoffed.  
He felt degraded, humiliated and embarrassed. She made him feel so powerless, yet he wouldn’t tell Emily. He was too embarrassed to tell her. 

That night, he went to bed overthinking, his mind unable to switch off, he was unsure where it would end. Would she get worse? 

—-  
That morning, breakfast was ate in silence, even if Aaron knew what to say, he was scared of getting shut down or called stupid for whatever he came out with.   
“Disgusting.” She grimaced, as she looked at Aaron.   
He was still quite shaky when he ate, and often made a mess. She handed him a napkin, “It’s on your chin. AGAIN.” She said.  
He sighed, wiping his chin and frowned, “I’m finished..” he said, he’d barely touched it.   
“What’s wrong with it?” She asked.   
“I just- I don’t feel like eating..” he shrugged.  
“Your eating it all.”   
He shook his head, “I don’t want too..” he said, swallowing.   
She slapped him round the face hardly, which caused him to gasp and hold his face letting out a whimper. “Do you want another or are you going to eat this before I have to feed it you like a baby?”   
He looked at her, sadness in his eyes, as she shook his head. “No..I’ll do it.” He said, fearing both from getting another slap and the thought of being fed. 

—   
That afternoon, Garcia had decided to come to visit, she could tell Aaron wasn’t in as good a mood as he was last time she came. He seemed different.  
“Are you okay, sir?” She asked, as they were halfway through a movie.  
Of course he wasn’t, he felt like bursting into tears every minute, Talia’s words kept replaying in his head, he was strstting to believe her. Maybe it was his fault. All of it. Maybe he should of walked further yesterday, and he should have held his urge to pee in longer. He should of learnt to not make a mess when eating. It was all his fault, he thought. He deserved it.  
He nodded reluctantly, “Just tired..maybe, you should go.”   
“But sir-“  
“Garcia, go.” He repeated, sighing. He didn’t want her to leave, but he couldn’t have her here when he felt like this. 

—  
Talia walked in, “How come Penelope left?” She asked.   
“I- I just wasn’t in the mood..”   
“I get it, your tired” she said, making a pouty face at him too mock him.  
He sighed, “Yeah..I am.”   
Talia widened her eyes as she saw the donut box on the sofa, “What have I told you?” She said, demanding. “You don’t need this..you’ve gained enough weight! Being in a wheelchair all day, you can’t afford to eat junk!”   
He nodded, biting his lip to stop himself from getting upset. “Sorry..”  
It wasn’t true, he’d actually lost weight since being in the accident due to not being able to eat solid foods for months at the start of his injury. But, he believed what she said. He believed everything she said. 

—-  
Emily had returned from her case, and had come home to Aaron taking a nap.  
“He’s been emotional this week..he even had an accident.” Talia said to Emily, lying through her teeth to make Emily believe it.  
Emily sighed, “Oh,that’s not good...I’ll talk to him about what’s going on, thank you for your help, Talia.” She said.  
“No worries, just call me when you need me again.” She said before leaving, a smirk on her face. She was a manipulative woman, and she liked this. 

As Aaron awoke, he saw Emily stroking his hair, “Your back.” He said softly, he was relieved she was back but also scared as he knew how easily she read him.   
“You okay?” She asked, instantly realising he seemed different, she knew him well.   
He nodded, “Just..tired.” He said.   
“Garcia told me about your snap...are you sure your okay?” She asked, worried about him.   
“I’m fine, Emily! Drop it! “ he shouted, lashing out.   
She gasped, not expecting him too lash out, but she knew something was up and she was going to find out what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, I know Talia is a little intense but Emily is going to catch on soon..she knows Aaron too well to think he’s fine :)


	10. The arrest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii hope your enjoying the story, I just want to add that with the Talia storyline I did research and read real stories about people who had suffered an abusive caretaker so I based a lot of it on real life events that do happen too people.  
> Anyway...Emily isn’t going to happy when she finds out about Talia this chapter 👁  
> (Also Garcia saves the day, as usual) 
> 
> Also after this chapter, be prepared for happier chapters and cute hotchniss moments❤️

—  
It had been a few weeks since Talia had first started being different towards Aaron, manipulative and abusive. Throughout this time, everybody had noticed a change in Aaron but he masked what it was well, after all he was a profiler and so was his wife and he couldn’t let her find out. He was too ashamed, embarrassed and felt powerless.  
Things hadn’t got better, like he had hoped it would. In fact, it had got worse, when Emily was gone for just day shifts it wasn’t as bad. Sure, she’d call him every name she could think of. Weak, pathetic, useless. And some days, she wouldn’t let him eat, but those days of the name calling and being deprived of food were the good days. It was when a case came up things got bad. 

She wouldn’t give him his medications, leaving him in more pain and distress. Whenever he’d get upset, she’d get angry and slap him, or push him over. Most of times, she wouldn’t let him bathe until the very last day Emily was coming home so she never noticed. She’d refuse to let him go to the toilet, which led to much shame and embarrassment for him and even then, she’d not make sure he was clean until hours after it had happened, each and every time. He was reaching breaking point, and he could feel it. She had his his Walker, so he couldn’t ever have the chance to do it himself, he struggled walking unaided.  
Emily had wondered if his distance was due too his head injury, and how his mood swings were. She’d asked him numerous amount of times, in which he’d just reply he was tired. She thought the reason was he had given up with his recovery, he hid it well, too well. 

Emily had gone on a case for three days, and they were on their way back. “Aaron, it’s your fault your not clean!” She said, slapping him round the head.  
He let out a gasp, it had been days since she had bathed him, “Im- sorry” he swallowed.   
“Sorry, won’t cut it.”   
He closed his eyes, trying to block out the noise and the pain he had from the lack of medication he’d be having. Due to this, he was much more weak and tired than usual. Which Talia did not like.   
However, this time, she had slipped up, and she knew she had which was why she was so stressed.  
As she had got angry at him, she hit him a little too hard in the head and a bruise had appeared. She would say it was from him trying to walk, or that he fell. She would get away it, she thought. She always does.

—-  
When Emily returned, Aaron was already asleep in the bedroom, it was dark and she’d only peered through to see him. She hadn’t seen the bruise yet.   
Emily thanked Talia and she had left to go home, Emily put her stuff down and went to go to the kitchen. As she made herself something to eat as she had skipped dinner, she went to take out the trash when she saw something unusual in the bin. Aaron’s pills that he was meant to take morning and night. She furrowed her brows, confused as to why they hadn’t been taken. She took them out the bin and placed them on the side, she was going to talk to Aaron about it tomorrow.  
Emily sighed, going to up the bedroom as she let out a yawn. She changed into some pyjamas and quietly got into bed, trying too not wake Aaron.   
“Talia..” Aaron said, in a scared, shaky voice.  
Emily turned to him, he was facing the wall so he couldn’t see her, “What? No..it’s me” she said, putting a hand on his arm, which made him gasp slightly.  
“Aaron..are you okay?” She asked softly.   
He exhaled and turned to face her, “Yeah..I just- I didn’t know you was back that’s all.”  
She widened her eyes as she saw the bruising on his forehead, “What- what’s that bruise?” She asked, swallowing. In her head, things started to add together, she was starting to suspect something else. He had sounded almost frightened when he thought it was Talia, and now she’d seen a bruise, what was going on?  
“I-uh- I fell..trying to walk, you know..since I’m not so good at it.” That had been imprinted in his brain too say, he had begun to think it himself, that he wasn’t good at it. That he wasn’t improving, even though he significantly had.   
“No, Aaron...I don’t believe you.” She said softly, shaking her head.   
He sat up a little, he had started to panic, he knew she was suspecting something, he knew she knew him too well.  
“It’s the truth!” He snapped, getting overwhelmed.  
“Aaron...if there’s something your hiding from me, please..tell me” she said her voice breaking, if this was what she suspected, her heart was already breaking.   
“No-“ he shook his head, looking down at the floor, swallowing deeply. He was going to not tell her, he’d kept it a secret for so long, he could keep it for longer.   
But he didn’t want too anymore, it had gone on for over a month now, and it was killing him. Not just that it was hard for himself, but that it was hard keeping something from the woman he loved the most.   
“Yeah..” he said, exhaling. He was shaking slightly, anxious to tell her.   
“Is it about Talia?” She asked, moving her hand onto his.  
He nodded, before looking up at her, a tear spilling from his eye.

“Has she...has she been hurting you?” She asked, as tears welled in her eyes.   
He nodded again, unable to answer, he felt too ashamed he had let it happen, and that it had happened.   
His old self would have never stood for anything like this at all, but he was so different now.   
“What has she been doing?” Emily asked, putting a hand on his face as tears fell from her eyes. She didn’t want her theory to be true, she felt like her heart had shattered. Part of her blamed herself, if she hadn’t gone back to work, none of this would have happened. 

So, Aaron explained what Talia was doing to him. He told her how she sometimes got violent, he told her how she would taunt him by not letting him have meals, and not letting him wash or go to the toilet. He told her what she would say to him, and how she would push him too go further than he could and accuse it of being his fault. Through it all, Emily gripped onto Aaron’s hand, as tears fell from both their eyes. This killed her too hear, and she wasn’t going to let it continue.   
“Aaron..I’m so sorry” she said,wrapping her arms around his neck, as she sobbed.   
He shook his head, “It’s not your fault, Emily.” He sighed, he had gotten used to dealing with this more, sure it upset him but he felt more relief than he did sadness. Relief that he had stopped bottling it up.  
“If I didn’t go back to work...none of it would have happened.”   
He pulled away, placing a hand on her face and brushing away her tears, “No..this isn’t your fault at all.”   
She nodded, not entirely believing him.  
“But there’s nothing we can do...there’s no evidence” he sighed, looking away sadly.  
Emily shook her head, “That’s not true. I’m going to find..anything I can on this bitch” she said, anger fumed in her voice. 

—-  
Emily and Aaron fell asleep not long after, she had curled into him, resting her head on his chest as they fell asleep. She needed that just as much as she did, after not seeing each other for three days and for what had just been revealed.

The following morning, the first thing Emily did was ring Garcia, asking her for background information on Talia and for her to dig deep. She wanted Talia to be sent down for her actions, and she wasn’t going to stop until she did it.   
Aaron had awoke in this time, and had got dressed, he could dress himself now without help which was much to his liking. He no longer needed support getting into the wheelchair, as he could lift his own weight. He had almost fully gained all hand and arm movement back, it was just the walking that was the issue. 

They were sat eating breakfast together when Garcia called, Emily instantly picked it up, putting it on speaker.   
“What have you got for us, Garcia?” Emily asked.   
“Okay..so as it turns out Talia is really a Natalia, which was hidden well in her files can I just add. Anyway...she was taken into the foster system at a young age until her uncle stepped forward as her primary caretaker...in which he was abusive” they both looked at each other, that was obviously what had started it all.   
“It turns out..that she had been caretaking many people in Florida, in which three families filed reports on her for neglect and abuse , however due to lack of evidence...they didn’t do anything. Which I find oddly unfair..since it was three different families.”   
“So she’s done it before..” Aaron said, with a sigh.  
Emily nodded, “Unfortunately..yeah”  
“So what can we do, if there’s no evidence?” Aaron said, he didn’t have much hope for this.   
“Okay, sir..this is when your going to both want to hug me. So I thought I’d do some digging into her now new name, which is how you two hired her..and I realised there’s been some odd increases to her banking. So, I went in to do some digging and I found that Aaron had made three deposits of $2000 at a time to her bank”   
He shook his head, “I didn’t.”  
“In which I presumed, so I’ve frozen her bank..she hadn’t took any money out of it yet, but she was looking online for flights to France a week prior to these statements. My bet is..she was going to flee the states.”   
Emily nodded to it all, “She slipped up. The reason she was never caught was because she never stole money..but this, this is our evidence.” She said, “We can arrest her.” She said, with a smile at Aaron.   
He gave a small smile back, squeezing her hand, “Thank you, Garcia.” They bith said.   
“No problem..and I, hope everything’s okay, sir. I mean, just know we’re all here for you..for both of you.”  
“You haven’t told the team have you?” Aaron asked.  
“No, of course not.” She shook her head.  
“Please..keep it that way, at least for now.” He said, swallowing.   
“Of course, I promise.” 

—-  
It was finally over. Emily had contacted the authorities, and had gone to arrest Talia herself, promising Talia a strong case against her. It had taken all of Emily’s willpower to not hurt the woman for what she had done.   
Aaron was relieved it was over, and although at first it had embarrassed him to openly admit it too Emily, he was thankful he had. It wasn’t easy for him to share his feelings, it never had been, and especially not for something as serious as this. 

Emily had been in contact with Strauss, and she had to explain everything, she had told Strauss that she would not be retuning to the BAU until Aaron was better. There was no way she was leaving him with another person, and the guilt she had already for what had happened dwelled on her so much that she couldn’t of ever let someone else come. She told Strauss that if she didn’t let her, then she would quit and work for Interpol or somewhere else. Fortunately Strauss knew how valuable Emily was to the team, and she did feel sympathy for what had happened, so she agreed to let her take the time off she needed.

—-  
A few weeks had passed since Talia’s arrest, and Aaron was doing better. From time to time, he had moments where he got upset over what had happened, but Emily had been a real help and he felt more like himself everyday. He was working on forgetting everything that had happened and to focus on improving walking, for Jack and Emily and himself. He had thought about maybe going to therapy to talk to someone about it , but he knew he wouldn’t fully be able to trust anyone and wouldn’t completely open up. The only person he fully trusted and opened up to was Emily, who was understanding about it all and comforted him which significantly helped, so he decided against that idea and realised he didn’t need anyone else to help.   
Aaron had now almost completely got rid of the wheelchair and used it only as backup, as he could walk unaided without needing to rest after a while. It was the biggest progress in his recovery, and gave Aaron and Emily both hope that soon, maybe he could be walking unaided.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter I know but there’s good things coming :)  
> Enjoy x

It had been a month since Talia was arrested, and her trial was soon coming up. During this time, Aaron had been working hard on trying to walk again. He could last a lot longer now on a Walker before he got tired and the wheelchair was there for just when he needed it which was becoming a lot less each day. 

It was a Saturday morning, which was the day both of them slept in later. Emily yawned as she woke up, opening her eyes slowly as she looked up at Aaron, her head rested on his chest. She saw he was awake and smiled slightly, “Good morning” she said, kissing him softly.   
“More like almost afternoon, it’s 11:30” he chuckled.   
“How long have you been awake?” She asked, sitting up.   
“Not too long..but I liked listening you sleep so peacefully” he smiled, moving to kiss her again.   
“Shall I get us coffee?” She asked, “I don’t know about you but a day in bed sounds amazing”  
He nodded, “That sounds perfect to me too” he said, as he watched her get up from the bed. She had his shirt on and she looked so sexy, god it was getting harder to control his urge to want to have sex with her. With everything that had happened in the past 9 months, they hadn’t got intimate in a while. But now he was starting to feel more like himself everyday, it was all he could think about. 

—-  
Emily came back up with two cups of coffee in her hand and Aaron’s pills, “Here.” She said, handing him the cup and the pills. He thanked her and took them, sipping his drink.   
Emily put her coffee on the side and grabbed the tv remote, “So what are you thinking?” She asked.   
Aaron smirked to himself, putting his cup on the side and putting a hand on her face, pulling her in close to kiss her.   
Emily kissed back softly, wrapping her hands around his neck, as he moved his hand to her shirt, unbuttoning slowly.   
“You sure you want this?” Emily asked, pulling away and looking at him.   
He nodded with a smirk, “Of course, I do” He knew they couldn’t go as fast as they used too, not for now anyway. He was just glad he had the energy to do this, and that he could do it, 9 months ago he would never have even thought he’d ever have sex again.   
He pulled her shirt down, grabbing her breast roughly as he deepened the kiss. She moved down, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling his underwear down. He moved down, inserting two fingers as she let out a moan. He moved his other hand up to her neck, grabbing her neck roughly as he kissed her faster.  
She bit her lip as he went faster, “Aaron” she moaned, he smirked as he positioned himself and entered into her deeply.   
She moaned louder, gripping hold of his shoulders as he thrusted into her. 

——  
Emily smirked, as Aaron was thrusting into her and pushed his elbow down and moved on top. She sat onto his dick, as he groaned closing his eyes. She bounced faster on his dick, as she felt herself getting close.   
He grabbed hold of her waist roughly, pushing her down deeply, she moaned as she felt herself release. As she continued to bounce, moving her hips in rhythm, he groaned as felt himself cum. She smirked, moving down to kiss him and moved off him.  
“I’ve missed that” he smiled, kissing her once more.   
“Me too...and you definitely haven’t lost your touch.” She chuckled, moving her head onto his chest.   
——  
Emily and Aaron spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, catching up on lost intimate time. They had both took a nap after and Aaron woke up first, seeing Emily still was asleep. He slowly got out the bed, putting his underwear back on and grabbing his walker. He slowly walked to the bathroom, debating it before going undressing and getting into the shower. He knew it was risky, he couldn’t stay up unaided without his Walker for long, but he wanted to try.   
For a while, it was successful, but as he neared the end he felt his legs start to shake and tire out. And then he fell, flat onto the shower floor.   
—-  
Emily awoke too a loud bang from the bathroom, noticing Aaron was gone she got up quickly and went to go see what the noise was about. She walked into the bathroom, and saw Aaron led on the floor groaning.   
“Aaron?” She said, coming neck to him.   
“I just thought..I could do it.” He said frustratedly.  
“Have you hurt yourself?” She asked.   
He shook his head, “No, but I just..I almost did it. I was nearly finished.” He sighed.   
She put a hand on his, “It’s okay..you still did good..you still did it without the walker for so long”   
“I just wanted..to do something for myself.”   
She nodded, “I know, and next time..you’ll be able to do it for longer, I mean...after all you did almost do it. Your getting stronger each day”   
He nodded with a sigh, “I’m sorry for not telling you..I should have told you”   
She shook her head, “It’s okay, I get why you wanted to..I just don’t want you to get hurt” 

——

Despite his setback, Aaron seemed to be a good mood which Emily was happy about since a lot of the time he couldn’t do things it put him in a foul mood. But recently, he had been a lot happier and his emotions were a lot more controlled.   
Emily and Aaron had decided to go on a walk, Jack was coming tonight for a sleepover which excited them both, Haley has started letting Jack come for sleepovers and this was the third one.   
“What do you want for dinner?” Emily asked as they walked.   
“I want..I want to try and cook” he said, looking at her.   
“You do?” She asked, before his accident he was a really good cook and it couldn’t be said the same for Emily.   
“I’m gathering your getting bored of my bad cooking” Emily added with a chuckle.   
He laughed a little, “I don’t know..I just wanna try, it’s been a while and I want to know if I can”   
She nodded, “Okay, I’m excited” she smiled.

——  
Jack and Emily were playing a board game on the breakfast bar as Aaron was cooking, she wanted to stay near him in case of anything, but it was going well. He was using his Walker for balance to her around. It certainly smelt better than hers.   
Emily looked up, “It smells good.” She said, smiling at him.   
“It’s Rossi’s pasta recipe..the one you love, I remember that” he said with a chuckle.  
“Well if I remember correctly, it was amazing...”   
“I remember it too, it was so good daddy!” Jack said, excitedly. 

Soon after, the pasta was ready and Aaron served it to them. He had cooked it a lot slower than he usually would, and had forgotten a few things at first before he remembered.   
Emily took a bite, “This is just as good as I remember” Emily moaned, closing her eyes.   
Aaron smiled, taking a bite himself, he was impressed with his cooking.  
“This is yummy, daddy!” Jack said as he ate his. 

After dinner, all three of them played some games and put on a movie. Emily smiled as she saw Jack asleep on Aaron’s chest. “I’ll go put him to bed” Emily said softly, gently picking up Jack and carrying him upstairs.   
Emily came back down and snuggled into Aaron, “What are you thinking?” Emily said, kissing his cheek.  
“How much I’m grateful for you being here, and I know it sounds cheesy..but I don’t think I’d be where I am now if it wasn’t for you. I could be in a lot of a worse state, but I’m not.”   
She nodded, “Yeah, your lucky..even if some days you don’t think so”   
“I know I am...I just hope, I can walk without that thing soon.”  
“Hopefully you will...in the meantime..I have a special surprise for you” she smirked, getting up.   
“What is it?” He asked, looking up at her.   
She unfastened her robe, to show a red lace underwear set, “I recall we have lost time to make up for” she said, pressing her lips together and sitting onto his lap.  
He raised a brow, smirking, “Oh, we certainly do” he said, pushing her head down to kiss her.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii I know it’s been a while but I’ve been finishing criminal minds and I’ve had no inspiration but I decided that I’m going to do a few ‘flashback’ chapters into the case that caused the accident and when the accident happened because it’s going to be more than just a usual case....because it’s foyet 😁 Obviously in this story he doesn’t kill Haley or anyone, so this is what Foyet does instead

11 months earlier- (a few days before the accident)

It had been two months since the reaper had first reappeared, and it was stuck on Hotch’s mind ever since. Everyone could tell, especially Emily but nobody knew what to do. He had acted like he’d moved past it, but the guilt of Foyet escaping prison had dwelled on him ever since he escaped. They couldn’t try and track Foyet down due to the amount of cases that they already had that they had to focus on, especially because Foyet hadn’t killed anyone new as far as they were aware. 

Hotch had got to work early this morning, just like he had for the past two months and Emily sighed as she woke up and saw the empty side of the bed. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair, she checked her phone to see if he had texted but he hadn’t.   
She could feel him drifting from her and she hated it but she didn’t know what else to do, he’d denied anything bothering him and said everything was fine too many times. She’d had enough now. They were supposed to be trying for a baby, they were supposed to be in the honeymoon period again since they’d only been married 5 months. She decided she had enough of him pushing her away about all this and today she was going to talk to him.

Emily got ready for work and then headed into the office, she was a little earlier than the rest of them which was good as it gave her time to go to Aaron.  
Emily knocked on the office door and walked in, “Hey, brought you a coffee. You wasn’t there this morning-again.” She said, putting a takeout coffee in front of him on his desk.   
He looked up at her and smiled a little, “Thanks for the coffee, and yeah I know..I had paperwork to do.”   
“You’ve had paperwork to do for weeks Aaron, you deserve a break and I want my husband back.” She said, folding her arms.   
“I can’t help-“  
She stopped him, interrupting, “No, this is about Foyet. You think if you overcompensate it’ll make the guilt of not catching Foyet easier and not seeing that it was foyet all along easier. But it won’t. And it won’t help going through the file a hundred times. Nothings going to change, Aaron!” She said, pointing to the folder on Foyet that she he had done a poor effort of trying to hide. 

He exhaled, listening as he let her talk, “Emily-“  
“I’m not finished. I just want my husband back, I just want you..to be you.” She said.  
Aaron got out of his chair, going over to her, “I’m sorry.” He said, placing a hand on her face. “I’m sorry for not being there. It’s just- I can’t get Foyet out my mind. I should have done more.”   
“There was nothing you could have done” she shook her head, moving closer to him.   
He nodded, “I wish there was. But I realise now, that I can’t continue like this. We will find him...but I can’t focus on this because it will take over.”  
She smiled and nodded, kissing him softly, “I promise you when we get a lead on him..the whole team will put everything into it, but until that you can’t stop your life trying”   
He kissed her head and nodded, “Okay...to make it up for you, how about we have dinner tonight? The Italian that Rossi took us too that time, that almost beat his own pasta?”   
She nodded with a smile, “Oh. I would love that.” She looked as the team had arrived, “And duty calls” she rolled her eyes, kissing him once more.

Luckily, that day was filled with paperwork and reports as no case had come through and their date was still on which was unusual as the majority of their dates had been postponed due to cases.   
Emily had a red dress on and had curled her hair, she had applied a full face of makeup and sprayed herself with perfume before walking downstairs. Aaron had been ready 45 minutes earlier, he was used to Emily taking forever to get ready.   
“You look amazing, as usual” Aaron smirked, kissing her.   
“Thank you” she smiled kissing him back and then grabbing her bag. 

They got to the restaurant and ordered their food and a bottle of wine, Emily had missed this and was glad Aaron had finally come to his senses.   
They had been there a few hours, which had flown by and felt like nothing.  
“I think we should start trying again..” Aaron said, looking up at her and sipping his wine.   
Emily raised a brow, a smile grew on her face, “What? You really want too?}” she asked, she knew they had spoke about it but her worry was Aaron wouldn’t have wanted too as he already had Jack.  
He nodded, “Yeah. I want a baby with you.” He smiled, moving a hand on top of hers.   
“Okay, yeah. I really want that.” She said, “You know..we could skip dessert altogether and start trying now” she smirked.   
He grinned, “I like the idea of that.” He said, downing his drink and putting money on the table. 

It was 5AM and the pair hadn’t slept yet, Emily was resting her head on Aaron’s chest, “You know...we could always go once more.” Aaron said, raising a brow.  
Emily chuckled, “I don’t think I could handle another...I think we’ve definitely had enough fun for one night” she said before yawning.   
“Well, I suppose we should get SOME sleep before work” he said.   
She nodded and snugged into him, as they both started drifting off to sleep both of their phone pinned off.   
Emily groaned, “Typical.” She said, getting up and checking her phone.   
As they both checked their phone, they stared at each other, it was Garcia ‘Urgent case, ASAP. It’s Foyet.’  
Emily swallowed, “Let’s go.” Aaron said, instantly getting up and going to the shower.   
Emily nodded, and hurried to go get ready.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii this is another flashback chapter, and the question remains, is Foyet caught? Or maybe he’ll come later....

11 months earlier-   
It had been two days and the team were no closer to Foyet, the whole team were putting everything they had into it and none of them had got a lot of sleep.   
“Okay, so Foyet has killed 3 people since we have been back on this case. We need to think, where will he go next?” Rossi said.  
“Yeah, well we know he’s staying local to DC, but what if he isn’t?” Emily asked, “Maybe, because he knows he has our attention, he left the city?”   
Aaron shook his head, “No. He wants to taunt us, this is personal to us and he wants to keep taunting us no matter if he gets caught or not.”

The team kept searching, and after the fourth body they finally found a lead. “Okay, I’m closest. I’ll drive to the address.” Hotch said hanging up.   
Aaron sped up, putting the sirens on, there was no way he was letting Foyet escape again.   
But that’s when everything changed.   
Foyet had outsmarted them and was following Aaron behind in the car, and had trailed up close to Aaron as he was going near the main roads which caused his accident as he squashed between two cars.   
Aaron’s car flipped and he was instantly knocked unconscious.

“Do we have any word from Hotch? Foyet isn’t here and neither is he” Derek said, as he called the team in the other car.   
Emily furrowed her brows, “What do you mean?” She asked, getting a little worried.  
Garcia was also on the line, “Um, guys, Hotch’s cell has just pinged on the high street...and a crash has been reported there. His cell isn’t moving.”   
Emily started getting a horrible feeling in her stomach after hearing Garcia, “Maybe he’s just..helping the crash” Emily said with a shrug, “Or maybe it was Foyet and he was the one that crashed which is why he’s there..” 

When they arrived at the scene, there was no sign of Foyet and according to witnesses he’d rushed off as soon as Aaron had crashed. They got a Reg plate from the witnesses and Rossi and Reid went off to track the car, hoping to find Foyet.  
Emily ran to the car, seeing Aaron unconscious with the medics, “Is he- is he okay?” Emily asked, panic in her voice and tears welling her eyes.   
“We need to get him to a hospital now.”   
“I’m coming with you.” Emily said, rushing into the ambulance.

In less than 20 minutes, their lives had changed.   
—-  
Emily and the team were awaiting news on Aaron, he’d been rushed off surgery and the doctors couldn’t say much.   
Emily was pacing up and down, biting her nails, “He’s going to be okay, right?” Emily said shakily, it was the fifth time she’d asked this.   
Derek got up, going over to her, “Emily..calm down, it’s Hotch. No matter what, he’s strong. Your not doing yourself any favours by panicking”   
Emily nodded, tears falling down her face, “I just- I can’t loose him” she shook her head as she fell into Derek’s arms.   
Derek held her, stroking her hair, “its gonna be okay..” he said comfortingly, but to be honest he wasn’t sure himself. He’d seen how bad the crash was, and how critical Hotch looked. He was scared for his friend too, they all were. 

“Aaron Hotchner?” The doctor called out and instantly they all stood up.   
“How is he?” Emily asked, rushing over to the doctor.   
“Agent Hotchner has suffered severe head trauma and we had to induce a coma...we won’t know how bad the brain damage will be until he wakes., I’m sorry.” He said softly.  
Emily let out a sob, “Brain damage?”   
The doctor nodded, “He had a few bleed on the brains and received major head trauma but head injuries cannot be measured until the patient is awake, every head injury is different”   
She nodded, “Can I see him?” She asked.   
He nodded, “Yeah, he’s in room 144”   
Emily nodded, “Thank you, doctor.” Emily said, as she rushed to find the room. 

She was scared for him too wake, when she heard the word brain damage she didn’t know what to think. What if he didn’t remember her? What if he was completely different?  
Emily put a hand to her mouth as she saw Aaron led there, hooked up to machines and she rushed over placing a hand on his and sitting down next to his bed. 

The first week passed and there was no change. The team all took it in turns of coming to sit with him, but Emily stayed there every day and night only leaving to get more clothes and shower.   
She had barely slept or ate, she couldn’t. Although she was happy he hadn’t deteriorated, she was scared for him too wake and see the affect the accident had.   
“Aaron...if you can hear me, please..just come back to me” she said, as she squeezed his hand. “I can’t loose you, we have...a life we’re building together. You have Jack, and we need to have our own family..and you can’t die.” She said, tearfully. 

The second week had passed and Emily was loosing hope for him to wake, although she knew being in a coma could take longer, she was growing impatient and nervous. She had grown to hate this hospital so much, but there was nowhere she would go except home and back to the hospital.

Finally, the third week came and Aaron had woke. Emily was relieved he was awake, but he hadn’t been awake for longer than two minutes and in that time he hadn’t spoke. He just stared at her blankly. Maybe it was due to coming out the coma, she thought. Over the next few days, he only woke for a few minutes and in that time he had looked around the room blankly before drifting back off.   
Nobody knew how bad the damage to his brain was yet. 

On the 5th day of him being out of a coma, he had finally lasted longer than two minutes being awake. Aaron squeezed her hand and looked at Emily, “Aaron? It’s me, Emily. Your okay, your in the hospital. Do you- do you know who I am?” She said softly, moving closer.   
Aaron heard what she said, and opened his mouth to say yes, of course he knew who his own wife was. As he went to answer, a series of mumbled sounds came out of his mouth, which made them both confused.   
Aaron widened his eyes, realising what had come out, why couldn’t he speak? What had happened?   
“I’m gonna- I’m gonna get the doctor” Emily said, rushing to go get the doctor. She was scared, could he not talk? Had the damage affected him this badly?

The doctors took some tests, and after asking Aaron a series of questions, they told them both that he had Aphasia. From what they could tell, he could remember people but he couldn’t speak. Aaron knew what words he wanted to say, but every time they came out it came out as a series of mixed sounds and stutters, which irritated him. He’d cried twice already and got irritated.   
This was unlike him at all, which had made him more angry as he knew this wasn’t him and embarrassed him.   
Emily also knew this, she knew her husband would hate this and she knew this wasn’t Aaron. It scared her, she didn’t want to loose him and she wondered if this was just as bad. 

Over the next days, Aaron’s mood swings were out of control. He was getting more frustrated, agitated and upset each time he couldn’t say what he was wanting to say. It had embarrassed him when he was placed on colostomy and urostomy bags, and when he was placed on a feeding tube because he was choking on the tiniest food he had been given. This wasn’t him, and he was filled with anger towards Foyet. 

The team had caught Foyet and he was placed in federal prison, but his mission all along was to make Hotch suffer and nothing else. Foyet had succeeded with that.

Present time-

Aaron had just finished an appointment with the FBI therapist that he has been forced to see if he even wanted a shot at being put back under desk work.   
Today was the first time he’d let out his anger towards Foyet to the therapist, he’d remembered everything Foyet had put him and his team through, he would kill Foyet if he could. 

Emily smiled as she saw Aaron come out the door to the therapist room, he was walking with the Walker perfectly now and smiled as he saw her. “Hey.” He said kissing her head.   
“Hey, how was it?” She asked as they walked.   
“It was..um, good. I finally told her about Foyet.” He shrugged, “But it just made me more angry...because it was the first time I’d fully told the story about what happened”  
“That’s good I suppose, it’s good to get it all out. I have some news when we get home by the way..”   
“When we get home?”   
“Yeah, you’ve gotta wait till we’re home.” She smirked. 

——  
Emily walked into the house and rushed to the kitchen, grabbing a small box she’d bought. As she walked to Aaron, he was in the living room. “What’s this?”he chuckled, as she handed him the box.   
“Open it.” She said, smiling widely.   
“Okay” he said, raising a brow as he opened the box.   
Inside the box was a stick, a pregnancy test stick, with the word Pregnant  
She was pregnant.   
He looked at her, speechless, not knowing what to say.   
“Your pregnant?” He said, looking at her.   
He was unsure how to feel, before the accident he would of been over the moon for this but now he was confused. Could he even be a good dad with what had happened?  
“Yeah!” She said laughing softly, “Are you happy about that?” She asked, looking at him confused a little. She could tell he hadn’t seem overly enthusiastic by this. Unlike him, she was over the moon for this, it had all she’d wanted since they’d started trying.   
“I- I don’t know.” He swallowed, looking her in the eyes.  
Her face dropped, she was speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I know this chapter is a little all over the place, but basically it was Hotch retelling how his accident had happened which involved Foyet and then Emily is preggers :)


	14. Chapter 14

It had been three days since Emily announced she was pregnant, and they had barely spoke. When Aaron had said he didn’t know how he felt, Emily walked out and had burst into tears. Since then, it had been awkward and hostile between the two. Neither of them knew what to say.   
It had been the first time they’d fallen out and not spoke for this long since the accident.   
Emily woke up and saw that the bed was empty, she sighed and sat up. For a few minutes, she stared at the wall deep in her own thought. All she had wanted was a child with Aaron and now she finally had the chance, and he didn’t want it? Nothing hurt more than thinking her child was unwanted by her husband. 

She got up from the bed, grabbing her robe and going downstairs. She saw Aaron at the breakfast bar, sipping his coffee as he attempted to read the newspaper. His reading had improved a lot and was getting better every day.   
He glanced up as he saw Emily come into the kitchen, he had barely spoke to her, he didn’t know what to say.   
“Em..this has been long enough.” He said, finally breaking the awkward silence.   
“What?” She said, turning to face him as she made herself a decaf coffee.  
“We need to talk about this.” He said, putting the newspaper down.  
“What is there too say, if you was happy about the baby..there would be no hesitation. It’s not- it’s not rocket science, I get it. You don’t want this.” She said, her voice breaking slightly.   
“Emily!” He said raising his voice, which took her back. He stood up going over to her, “I never said I don’t want this baby. Our baby.”   
“Then what?” She said with a small scoff.   
“All we’ve wanted together is..a child of our own. But how can we? I can’t be a good dad! I can barely be a good husband!”   
“That’s not true at all! Your a good husband and your a good father to Jack. Why would your ever thing different?” She said, moving over closer to him.   
“Because of this!” He said, pointing to the walker. “When I can’t walk unassisted? I still can’t work? At least with Jack he wouldn’t need- constant care like a baby does. And I can’t promise to be that! How could I?” 

She shook her head, putting a hand to his face, “If I thought for a second...that was true, I would of been hesitant to tell you. But as soon as I found out, I couldn’t wait to tell you. Because, it was the best news. Especially after this year. I don’t have any doubts of how good of a father you’d be, because I know each day your stronger.”   
He sighed, looking into her eyes, “I just..I didn’t want to disappoint you or-“   
She stopped him but leaning in and kissing him softly, “You’d never disappoint me, Aaron. Your strong and you- you fought so much already and I think..your going to be an amazing father to our child. I never thought I’d get to say that.” She said with a chuckle.  
“Me neither, I thought after my accident that was it. But- you..you did it” he said, kissing her head.  
She smiled, “So...your happy about this?” She asked, her hormones were all over the place all the time and she was still nervous he didn’t want this.  
He nodded, “Of course I am. I was just scared...but of course I’m happy about having a baby with you. I love you, Emily”   
She moved in and wrapped her arms around him, “Good because..I couldn’t stand not talking to you” she said.

—-

Two weeks had passed since she announced to him she was pregnant, they had been to their first scan and she was just under 8 weeks. It was still early, and the only person they had told was Jack. They wanted to save telling the team until a later date, until she was 12 weeks. 

Emily’s morning sickness had definitely kicked in by this point, and each morning was awful. Aaron had tried to be there for her, but her hormones would get the best of her and she’d get annoyed by him which led to him backing off and finding ways to cheer her up. He brought her hot chocolate, and they’d spend the mornings watching movies until she felt better.   
In the meantime, Aaron’s sessions with Reid were getting a lot better and his writing had improved by far. In two months, Aaron had his tests to see if he was well enough to come back to desk work. He couldn’t be unit chief yet, or go out into the field but it was definitely a start. 

—-  
“How do you feel about dinner tonight?” Aaron said, coming next to Emily who was in the living room. She’d had a horrible morning, she had spent hours next to the toilet and this baby was giving her a good run for her money.

“Hmm?” She said, turning to him.   
“I want to take you out for dinner tonight..if your up for it.” He said, raising a brow.   
“You do?” She said, sitting up, they hadn’t gone out on a date together since before the accident.   
“Yeah, that Italian that Rossi always recommended we should visit?”   
She nodded, “Yeah, we never got round to going.”   
“So..Let’s go, tonight.” He said, kissing her hand. “You deserve it after the past couple mornings”  
She nodded, smiling, “Yeah, let’s go!” She said, excitedly. It had been too long since they had gone out together and she had missed it. Too much. It finally felt like she was getting her husband back, and they were having a baby together.   
It felt like things were finally looking up for them. 

—-  
The evening arrived and Emily was getting ready, she had curled her hair and put on more makeup than she normally would. She sighed as she tried on her outfit, she wasn’t far along but she could already see her growing bump. It was small, but she noticed it and it made her uncomfortable.   
“Aaron..” she moaned, walking out without her clothes on, throwing her outfit on the floor.   
“What? Not that I don’t love to see you naked..but why are you throwing your clothes on the floor? You should be dressed by now.”   
“I look fatter and because I don’t look pregnant yet, I just look fatter!” She said ranting.   
“You don’t look fat.” He chuckled, going over to her.   
“Yeah I do. Look.” She said, pointing to the smallest bump.   
“It’s nothing, baby. You don’t look any different. You can’t even notice a difference.”   
“Yeah, but I do. And I feel horrible.” She sighed.   
“You look beautiful, and you don’t look any different. I promise,sweetheart.” He said kissing her softly.   
She nodded reluctantly and picked her up outfit, “I should go put this back on.”   
“Don’t worry..you could definitely take it back off lately” he smirked.  
She rolled her eyes and walked away to go get ready. 

—-

They arrived at the restaurant, they were sat in a small booth that was candlelit and had already ordered.   
“Rossi was right...this place is really nice.” Emily said, sipping her soda.   
“Yeah, it is. And it feels weird..being out. On a date. It’s been a long time”   
She nodded, “I agree, and I’ve missed this.”   
“Me too.” He said, kissing her hand.   
Their food arrived, and Emily tucked into her pasta, she closed her eyes in pleasure and let out a moan. “This pasta is amazing, quite literally the best I’ve ever tried..except Rossi’s.”  
He chuckled as he watched her and nodded, “I agree. It’s amazing.” He said, as he took a bite of his own. 

The rest of the night, it felt like barely minutes had passed and they had been there hours. They had missed being a couple, going on dates and doing normal things. Things were finally looking up, and both of them were happy.


End file.
